Here is a short overview of the 7 alchemical stages of the Great Work for inner transformation.
1. Calcination:
This involves burning away the ego and false identities, similar to how fire reduces matter to ash. It's the initial breakdown of limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviours. It represents the destruction of ego, pride, and illusions.
2. Dissolution:
Melting the old into the unconscious. The ashes from calcination are dissolved in liquid. This represents letting go of rigid identity and allowing buried emotions to surface. This stage is about surrendering to the process of transformation and releasing what no longer serves.
3. Separation:
Distinguishing the pure from the impure. After the breakdown, clarity emerges as one identifies what is essential and discards what is not. This is about sorting through the chaos and gaining a clearer understanding of oneself.
4. Conjunction:
The union of opposites. Purified parts of oneself begin to integrate. Masculine and feminine energies, intuition and logic, and other opposing forces start to unite. Recombining purified elements. This is the symbolic union of matter and spirit to form something new.
5. Fermentation:
Birth of the divine spark. Rot and decay leading to new life. Represents spiritual inspiration or divine presence awakening after inner transformation. The ego is restructured, and the soul is awakened.
6. Distillation:
Refining the essence. Purifying the solution further through evaporation and condensation. Symbolises the raising of consciousness or spiritual clarity. Further refinement and purification occur, removing any remaining impurities. This involves ongoing inner work and reflection, leading to wisdom and maturity.
7. Coagulation:
The Philosopher’s Stone. The final stage represents the realization of inner wholeness, grounding, and healing, often symbolized by the "Philosopher's Stone". The final integration into a new, perfect form. The spiritual self is reborn, whole and awakened. This is enlightenment.
