Is transmutation possible? Alchemy, psychology, spirituality, and the deeper mysteries of personal transformation.

can we ever become someone- or something- else?

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In this essay, I explore the connections between the ancient science of alchemy and contemporary concepts of transformation. Alchemy, once considered the Master science, offers profound insights into the process of transmutation—transforming something impure into something pure, often symbolized by turning lead into gold. This process is not just a historical curiosity but a powerful metaphor for personal and societal transformation. We can observe alchemical patterns in disciplines such as nuclear physics, psychology, spirituality, and even popular culture. By understanding these patterns, we can recognize the ongoing relevance of alchemical principles in our seemingly chaotic world.

The process of transmutation remains the same: something impure is taken, and stress, usually heat, usually fire, is applied¹. The gold is not about wealth as we understand it, but about the state of gold. Transmutation is more than the literal change of physical elements; it serves as a powerful metaphor for inner transformation and realizing one's highest potential. This process involves purifying, refining, and elevating the self, shedding the ego's impurities and the material world's limitations to uncover the true, golden essence within.

In the modern world, the questions that so plagued the alchemists of antiquity can seem very far away. Worse, they can seem irrelevant.

Yet we are living in alchemical times.

And you are a natural-born alchemist.

Within you is buried a deep code that allows you to access the knowledge of alchemy. It is the universal language of symbols, a timeless Wiki-How towards transmutation.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, whenever you are, the quest for alchemical gold is as open for entrants as always.

Whilst our outer realities have changed beyond all recognition, when we look at human experience over the ages it seems we have changed barely at all. The letters written by Roman soldiers and school children reveal dispositions and concerns so similar to our own that it is downright disconcerting. What does it say that all our development has been external, on the outside, yet our inner selves have not progressed at all? What are the inner consequences of such rapid external development without corresponding inner growth?

The need for transformation is arguably greater than ever before.

Humans are instinctive recognisers of patterns. One of the most foundational principles of how we understand our reality is that of symmetry. Symmetry is not only a natural instinct but is also a heuristic principle in physics. Nobel Laureate Wolfgang Pauli went so far as to say that physics is a study of symmetry².

We instinctively look to symmetry in abstract principles as well as using it to help us understand and predict the world. One way in which we do this is to expect ‘good’ people or actions to be rewarded and ‘bad’ people or actions to be punished. One of the most well known examples of this is the concept of karma although the idea of a responsive, balanced, symmetrical universe can be seen across many time periods, cultures, and belief systems.³

For the briefest of moments, the inner and outer can become momentarily aligned through an experience of synchronicity. Synchronicity is widely reported as a deeply meaningful and numinous experience.⁴

This experience is fleeting. Our usual experience is one of schism and fragmentation. Nowhere is this more deeply felt than in the asymmetry between our inner selves and the outer world.

The lack of symmetry between our inner and outer worlds is increasing, correlating with rising levels of meaninglessness and narcissism⁵. We have moved from an awareness of our fallen state into an age of entitlement.

Photo by John R.Clarke@Substack

The splitting between the inner world of the numinous Self and the outer experiential world⁶ has moved at a such a brisk pace post the industrial revolution, then accelerating to warp speed since the technological advancements post WW2, that we can almost hear them ripping apart.

We can certainly feel it.

This extreme dissociation from reality results in lack of empathy, lack of purpose, lack of meaning- everything is focussed on the outside to an extreme polarity. This has resulted in an almost completely externalised image of ourselves.

Jung wrote that if the unconscious is suppressed it will manifest in reality in unexpected ways⁷. In the world today we see the need and desire for inner transformation and symmetry played out in the world of popular culture and celebrity worship.

Let’s take a broad look at the process of transmutation and then consider how this would look if the process took place within the Self.

Transmutation in physics

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Rarely do we see a child turn on a parent with the viciousness that science turned on poor old alchemy. This precocious and young child took the treasure of alchemy and re named and repackaged it, stripping out the corresponding inner meaning and ridiculing it.

This approach was far more effective than the previous efforts of the Church such as outlawing and forbidding alchemy on pain of death⁸. The smear campaign against alchemy was so effective that Jung’s reputation was tarnished by it. At the time it was not known that Isaac Newton had spent far more time researching alchemy than any other subject⁹ and now it is not understood. If anything it is thought of as a waste of their time, so far from the original path have we come.

The newly enthroned child may have distanced themselves from alchemy, but transmutation, the goal of alchemy, has become the crown jewel of the hardest of the sciences and is being practised to an advanced degree.

In nuclear physics, transmutation occurs through the mirror image processes of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission involves the splitting of heavy atomic nuclei into lighter elements, typically resulting in the release of a large amount of energy. This process is used in nuclear power plants to generate electricity and has also been harnessed in the development of atomic weapons. Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, involves the combining of light atomic nuclei to form heavier elements, a process that releases even greater amounts of energy than fission.

Fusion is the primary energy source for stars, including our own sun, and is being actively researched as a potential source of clean, virtually limitless energy for the future.

Fission and fusion are reflections of each other. Elements that are heavier than iron, when pressure is applied, are the elements that are lighter than iron, are the ones that undergo fusion when pressure is applied. This phenomenon is known as the Iron Peak.

Fission radiation is more harmful than fusion radiation primarily because of the types and longevity of the radioactive materials they produce. In nuclear fission, the splitting of heavy atoms like uranium releases a variety of radiation types, including neutrons and gamma rays, which are highly penetrating and damaging to biological tissues. Moreover, the by products of fission are often long-lived radioactive isotopes that pose significant environmental and health risks for many years.

In contrast, nuclear fusion, which involves combining light atoms like hydrogen to form helium, produces much less harmful radiation. The main by product, helium, is non-radioactive, and the few radioactive materials generated decay relatively quickly. Therefore, fusion radiation is generally safer, with lower levels of harmful radiation and fewer long-term waste management issues compared to fission.

Fission is easier to achieve than fusion as it requires less energy to produce than fusion. Fission and fusion are mirror images of each other, but there is an asymmetry in terms of production that is delineated by the Iron Peak.

Whether fission or fusion, nuclear energy represents the pinnacle of man’s power of nature, and is representative of huge amounts of energy and power.

Can such a process really take place within a person? What would that look like?

Photo via Know your Meme (Edited JohnR.Clarke@Substack)

Transmutation in the Self

In the realm of the psyche, the process of transmutation finds its most profound and mysterious expressions in the mirror images of mysticism and the ‘crown jewel¹⁰’ of psychiatry, schizophrenia.

These two states of consciousness, seemingly opposed yet intimately connected, can be seen as the psychological analogues of the nuclear processes of fusion and fission.

Mysticism, in this context, represents the fusion of the self with the divine, the ultimate unitive experience in which the boundaries of the ego dissolve and the individual merges with the infinite. This is the goal of the spiritual alchemist, the transmutation of the base metal of ordinary consciousness into the gold of enlightenment.

Schizophrenia, on the other hand, can be seen as a kind of psychological fission, a splitting of the self into fragmented parts that no longer cohere into a stable whole. Like the splitting of the atom in nuclear fission, the Self undergoes a division, and the resulting impact is negative.

The mirror image between the two had been recognised by William James as early as 1902. James believed that both were forms of mysticism but of a higher and lower nature, with schizophrenia representing a ‘diabolical mysticism’.¹¹

The same fractured line, represented by the iron peak in physics, manifests here with the same asymmetry between mirror images as seen in fission and fusion. It seems that the system produces many schizophrenics but correspondingly an almost negligible amount of mystics.

In 1966 Laing proposed that schizophrenia be re named ‘metanoia’¹² which in Greek translates as transformation ‘beyond the mind’ and is translated in the New Testament as redemption.

Transmutation in Christianity

Do you remember a short while ago I said that rarely do you see a child turn on a parent as viciously as science turned on alchemy? Well, there’s more trouble at home when we explore the central role of alchemy in the Christian opus of redemption.

In the alchemical and spiritual context, redemption represents the ultimate transmutation of the self, the final stage of the journey towards wholeness and union with the divine. If the process of transmutation is the purification and transformation of the base metal of the ego into the gold of the true Self, then redemption is the moment when that gold is finally achieved, when the illusions and imperfections of the false self are burned away.

Redemption, in this sense, would be a state of complete inner freedom and liberation, a release from the bondage of suffering, ignorance, and sin. It would be marked by a profound sense of unity and interconnectedness, a recognition of the divine spark within all beings and the essential oneness of all creation. The redeemed individual would embody the qualities of unconditional love, compassion, wisdom, and service, living in harmony with the deepest truths of the universe.

Throughout the history of Christian art, halos and golden auras have been used to depict the sanctity and spiritual luminescence of holy figures. One famous example is Giotto di Bondone's fresco "The Adoration of the Magi" (c. 1305) in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy. In this masterpiece, the Christ child is surrounded by a brilliant golden aura, signifying his divine nature, while the Virgin Mary and the visiting Magi are also adorned with halos, indicating their holiness and proximity to the divine.

These radiant halos and auras find a parallel in the alchemical imagery of stars and suns, and the nuclear processes that power them. Just as the stars in the heavens burn with the energy of nuclear fusion, transforming hydrogen into helium and releasing tremendous amounts of light and heat, so too do the halos in Christian art suggest a kind of spiritual fusion, of the human and the divine that releases a transformative spiritual energy.

In his commentary on the book of Job, Pope Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) introduced an intriguing alchemical metaphor for the spiritual journey. He likened the soul's progression towards God to the purification of metals, with sins corresponding to different base metals such as iron, bronze, and lead. Just as these impure metals must be subjected to intense heat and fire to be refined and transformed into precious gold, so too must the human soul undergo a process of purification through the fires of trial and suffering in order to be made worthy of union with the divine.

This idea of spiritual alchemy, of the soul being purified and transmuted through the heat of divine love and the crucible of earthly challenges, became a central theme in Christian mysticism and spirituality. The concept of purgatory, for example, can be seen as a kind of cosmic furnace in which souls are purged of their impurities and made ready for the beatific vision of God. Similarly, the lives of the saints and mystics are often characterized by intense experiences of suffering and spiritual fire, which are understood as necessary stages in the alchemical process of transformation.

In this light, the Christian journey takes on a deeply alchemical character, with the soul progressing through different stages of purification and illumination, from the base metal of sinful humanity to the pure gold of spiritual perfection. The fire of God's love, which is both purifying and transformative, is the key to this process, burning away all that is false and illusory and revealing the true, divine nature within.

According to Gregory’s teachings, only sins lighter than iron can be burned off in purgatory. Here again, we find our old friend the iron peak. Here too, we see the mirror images of fission and fusion, represented by a fusion or unity with the divine or a separation and fission from god. There is the same asymmetry here that we have observed between fusion and fission, and mysticism and schizophrenia.

Here are just a few examples of alchemical imagery in the bible:

‘I will turn my hand against you, I will smelt away your dross in the furnace, I will remove all your base metal from you’ Isa. 1:24.25 JB

‘And now i have put you in the fire like silver. I have tested you in the furnace of distress. For my sake and my sake only have I acted’ Isa. 48:10,11, JB

‘You tested us, God, you refined us like silver, you let us fall into the net, you laid heavy burden on our backs, you let people drive over our heads, but now the ordeal of fire and water is over, and you allow us once more to draw breath’ Ps. 66:10-22 JB

Whilst both Christianity and science agreed on abandoning much of the older interpretations of alchemy, this did not mean there has not been squabbles between them. Science will never admit its relative, meanwhile the Church has been aggrieved at science’s antics, sometimes accusing science of going too far.

In an excerpt from an article written in 2015, Pope Francis had this to say on the Large Hadron Collider:

“My fellow Christians, we are living in desperate times. Science is about to test the limits of God and his creation. God has created boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Are these scientists about to unleash upon us the Gates of Hell?”

“Are these the days of darkness spoken of in the Bible? Are the hordes of demons lurking in the fiery pits of Hell about to be thrust upon the world? These are questions we must ponder before allowing scientists to proceed to such experiments.’¹³

The Church has also shown a deep interest in depicting nuclear fission in an extraordinary art piece called ‘The Resurrection’ (La Resurrezione) Installed in the Throne room, made of bronze and brass (which are above the iron peak and represent sins that can be purified in purgatory) the imposing (and frankly unsettling) work depicts "Christ rising from this crater torn open by a nuclear bomb; an atrocious explosion, a vortex of violence and energy."¹⁴

The piece has been controversial for its frightening and strange appearance.

Transmutation is the same process across disciplines

Photo via Know Your Meme (edited John R.Clarke@Substack)

The False Transmutation of Celebrity Culture

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As we know, nuclear fusion powers stars, including our own sun. It is this process that makes stars shine. It is literal ‘star power’.

Let’s take a look at the ‘stars’ of celebrity culture and how alchemy is at work in your life today.

You could be forgiven for guessing that the term Hollywood ‘star’ was coined in the early days of cinema. In fact the term originates from Ovid’s concept of metamorphosis- the idea that people could transform into something else, into the shiny substance of the stars themselves.

The term again arises in the same vein in the works of Chaucer’s dreamer who worries that he might be ‘stellified’ or turned into a star by Jove (Jupiter).

The word celebrity means famous, but the older, now obsolete meaning, comes from ‘to be honoured with the proper rites or rituals’.¹⁵

And here we are today worshipping celebrities, creators and influencers, epitomising the way the valuation system has become completely externalised with no corresponding inner balance.

The instinctive adoption of these terms show just how deeply embedded in the collective unconscious these concepts are and why they are manifesting in the ways that they are.

Celebrity culture is a trompe l’oeil. The eye is fooled. We see celebrities performing heroic feats, we see them encompassing the roles of the deeper archetypes, and that resonance within us to those roles is transferred onto the image of the celebrity. Even though we ‘know’ its fake, what the eye sees, we believe on an unconscious level. The nature of celebrity is intertwined with the divine, and we are invited to worship those endowed with star power in a way indistinguishable from gods.

Furthermore, celebrities represent the alchemical journey. They start out with an innate gift of charisma or talent. This is then purified through hard work and dedication to the craft, and their reward is an ascension to the heavens or the pantheon of gods.

We can see the projection of the redeemed state not only ono celebrities but sometimes the characters they play. The enduring fascination with superheroes, for instance, calls to mind the redeemed state. Superman, arguably the most archetypal superhero, was originally designed with characteristics of biblical heroes.¹⁶

This Christian symbolism of Superman has been embraced by the Church. Of course, Superman is not just a Superhero but a UFO.

The question of redemption is something that has occurred to the Vatican in terms of alien visitors. In an interview in 2019 Vatican astronomer Father Funes had this to say:

“We who belong to the human race could really be that lost sheep, the sinners who need a pastor. God became man in Jesus in order to save us. So if there are also other intelligent beings, it’s not a given that they need redemption. They might have remained in full friendship with their creator.”¹⁷

If we recall how man’s nature seems to have changed little since at least ancient Rome, and that this is not a true transmutation, we must wonder what is the inner cost of such outward power for those of us, all of us, who are in a fallen state and ‘not on good terms’ with our creator.

In fact what we are seeing with celebrity culture is chemical conversion¹⁸, but not true transmutation. This is in effect a ‘non-fertile¹⁹’ or incomplete work. This is not to minimise the impact of this type of false star power (or fusion or redemption). We see every day just how powerful star power can be. If we consider this, we can begin to speculate on just how powerful the impact would be of a person who had undergone a true transmutation. It would be celebrity to the power of a thousand thousand suns.²⁰ Or stars.

An Alchemical Goodie-Bag

The root of the word conversation is a compound made up of ‘con’- with, or together- and ‘vesare’, meaning to turn. We’ve taken a good turn together through the gardens of transmutation and I hope you’ll take some symbols away with you.

The transmutation of alchemy is the ultimate wooden Gladius, the doorway to not only a new life but an entirely new reality. Not only would you be able to save yourself but you would be able to transfer everyone around you from the Titanic to the Carpathia, since the end product transmutes everything around it to gold as well. You would not get ill, you would not age. You would be living as man and woman lived in the Golden Age²¹. You would have natural advantages that would be superhuman or god-like depending on your interpretation. You would be what ‘stars’ imitate. The real deal. The genuine article. The definition of freedom -and power-beyond anything we can conceive. By viewing the world through the lens of alchemy, you can uncover patterns and connections in the world that provide context and meaning. And that is how the journey begins.

Now that you understand the profound nature of symmetry and the divine powers of transmutation, you have become quite the alchemist!

In the 16th Century, alchemist and philosopher Gerhard Dorn wrote ‘in man there is an inner sun. If a man knows how to transmute things in the greater world, how much more shall he know how to do in the microcosm, that is, in himself, the same that he is able to do outside himself, if he but knew that man’s greatest treasure dwells within himself and not outside of him. ’²²

I wish you luck on your alchemical journey. One day you might pull the sword from the stone.

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1. Edinger, Edward. F (1994) Anatomy of The Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy, Open Court Publishing, Illinois USA

2. Fanning, P.A. (2009) Isaac Newton and The Transmutation of Alchemy, An Alternate View of the Scientific Revolution, North Atlantic Books, Berkely, California

3. From the Ancient Egyptian concept of Ma'at, which linked personal conduct to cosmic order, to the Greek notion of Nemesis as divine retribution, cultures worldwide have grappled with the interconnectedness of individual actions and universal consequences. The Norse Wyrd, Chinese Tao, and African concept of Ashe all point to a malleable fate influenced by human behaviour. Abrahamic religions posit divine judgment, while Mesoamerican Teotl and various Native American traditions emphasize harmony with natural and spiritual forces. These diverse yet thematically linked ideas - whether expressed as karma in Indian philosophies, de in Confucianism, or the principle of cosmic balance in countless indigenous worldviews - all suggest a profound symmetry between the inner world of human choice and the outer realm of existential outcomes. This widespread belief in a responsive universe underscores humanity's enduring quest to find meaning in action and to understand our place within a greater cosmic order.

4. Jung, C.G (1960) Synchronicity, An Acausal Connecting Principle, Princeton Univeristy Press USA

5. Twenge, Jean. M, & Campbell, W. Keith, (2009) The Narcissism Epidemic, Simon and Schuster Press

6. The duality of inner and outer being, ‘res cogitans’ and ‘res extensa’ respectively, is Cartesian (Rene Descartes)

7. Jung, C.G (1953) Psychology and Alchemy, Routledge

8. Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals in 1403

9. Fanning, P.A. (2009) Isaac Newton and The Transmutation of Alchemy, An Alternate View of the Scientific Revolution, North Atlantic Books, Berkely, California

10. Szasz, T, (1976) Schizophrenia, Oxford University Press

11. James, W. (1958) The Varieties of Religious Experience, New American Library, New York

12. Laing, 1966, William Alanson White Institute, in Wapnick, K, (1972) Mysticism and Schizophrenia in White, J. (1972) The Highest State of Consciousness, White Crow books 20012 reprint USA/UK pp161

13. Pope Francis Warns Large Hadron Collider Could ‘Open Gates of Hell | PobsOnline Stories. www.pobsonline.com/pope-francis-warns-large-hadron-collider-could-open-gates-of-hell/ retrieved 1 August 2024

14. ‘Pericle Fabrizi, a Sculptor for The Vatican’ The New York Times. The New York Times. 5 December 1987. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1987/12/05/442387.html?pageNumber=33 Retrieved 31 May 2024.

15. Oxford English Dictionary www.oed.com Retrieved 1 August 2024

16. Superman as Jesus -- Christian imagery in Man of Steel (ew.com)

17. Do Aliens Exist? Here's What Pope Francis and Vatican Astronomers Have to Say | www.ucatholic.com/blog/d0-aliens-exist-/ retrieved 1 August 2024

18. Chemical conversion and transmutation are two distinct processes that involve changes in matter, but they differ fundamentally in their nature and the level at which the changes occur. Chemical conversion refers to the rearrangement of atoms or molecules during a chemical reaction, where the atomic nuclei remain unchanged.

19. Alchemy has two branches within it, Neo-Platonic and Hermetic. For an interesting comparison I recommend reading Roth, R.F. (2011) The Return of The World Soul, Pari Publishing Sas, United States

20. Oppenheimer quoted the following excerpt upon the first atomic weapon exploding at the Trinity site in Alamagordo, New Mexico, USA: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the Shatterer of Worlds."

21. ‘It is the child of Saturn, do you need more?’ unknown alchemist, cited in Edinger, above

22. Dorn, D, Spec.Phil, Theatr Chem I, p 308. In Jung, C.G, (1963) Mysterium Coniunctionis, Bollingen Foundation, New York, pp54. Jung also adds the note ‘this agrees with Paracelcus’.