I. Introduction : History of alchemy Study by C.G.Jung
He faced alchemy through his own search for the human unconscious after he had gained different view of the unconscious from Sigmund Freud. He eventually found that all medival alchemical processes had great implications of human psychic phenomenons, especially psychic transformation(Wandlung). And so he realized that the medival alchemy had not only connection to, but also had deep-seated historical root of analytical psychology. ´Archetypes of Collective Unconscious´ could have had plentiful contents of humane history by his alchemy study. C.G.Jung called also his own psychology ´alchemical psychology´.
II. Psychological meaning of alchemy
´Unbound spirit of nature , alchemists´ ultimate object, was an utmost level to realize in the real world. It has a meaning for them to approach to the God´s world and to the secret of the Creation. This alchemical point of view had contained a stream of the Gnosis, then to Neo-Platonism. ´Unbound spirit of nature´ lies in all material as the ´Substance´(Substanz). Alchemists looked like dealing with the chemical substance, but in truth dealt with ´Prima materia. Chemical substances like mecury, silver, sulfide and so on had been unknown to alchemists, so they could project easily their unconscious to the materials.
´Prima materia´ is not a kind of chemical substance, but the projected psychic contents of the Collective Unconscious to the matter. In medieval age, Mercurius was one of the well-known figures of ´Prima materia . Mercurius, the god of transformation, appeared as a dragon, a hermaphroditic mankind or a divine child, which had characteristic of psychic autonomy that had been changed unceasedly. ´Mercurius´ as ´Prima materia´, which relieves the strain between opposites and transcend beyond psyche and matter, means not a part of
projected content but the realization of all psychic realm.
What is most important in alchemical processes is the psychic transformation to induce four elements to the level of integration in cosmic substance by experiments. Such a level to reflect the integration of four elements was expressed by colors like black, white, and red(nigredo- albedo-rubedo).
In the 10 figures of ´Rosarium Philosophorum, the serial change in the king, he queen, and the world reveals the heavenly secret of coniunctio. They suggest riot only the coniuntio between human soul and body, but coniunctio between :osmic body and cosmic soul. In the psychological aspect, such a coniunctio signifies encounter and integration of the conscious and the unconscious, especially ´Collective Unconscious´. In other words, ´coniunctio´ means that one --an be conscious of the Collective Unconscious´, which corresponds to the physical world. All alchemical processes have symbolically dealt with the ´individuation´ processes.
Realized cosmic being, which is equivalent to ´Self in psychological meaning, ,vas expressed in various ways like ´Philosopher´s stone´, panacea, life-saving ,vater, ´Anthropos´ and so on. Such a realization of the being may lead to a experience of ´unus mundus´ in relation to the world. In this level, human being s not a part of nature any more, but the ´microcosmic being´, the being in the -enter of the world, and the being like God or Creator.
III. Conclusion
Realization of cosmic being in alchemy is equivalent to that human-being becomes the god-man that human-being gets the goddish insight almightiness. It means a kind of religion originated by personal experience of total personality, not religion for the God. In this context, alchemists attitude lay in the compensatory position to the Christianism. The feminity, that was excluded by the Christianism, has a foremost role in transformation for individuation.
Western alchemy has almost same contents with oriental alchemy. It seems a evidence that there is a same basis in the human psyches.
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