History and Philosophy of Alchemical Divination

By Ralph Metzner

Alchemy, descended from shamanism, is the ancient art and science of elemental transformation. Mircea Eliade posited that alchemy grew historically out of the work of shamanic miners, smiths and metallurgists. A popular misconception is that alchemy was solely and futilely concerned with the transmutation of base metals to gold. In actuality, it is clear from alchemical writings that the main focus of most alchemical practitioners was healing and what we would nowadays call psychotherapy: the transmutation of the physical and psychic condition of the human being – starting with oneself. The archaic worldview was holistic – the physical, psychic, spiritual and cosmic dimensions of life were seen in their wholeness, not as separate fields. As such, alchemy can be considered a specialized extension of the shamanic traditions of healing and transformation dating from the Old Stone Age. Shamans and alchemists had specialized knowledge of plants and mineral substances, including crystals, and secret initiatory knowledge of the spiritual dimensions.

One could say that alchemy and yoga are the Western and Eastern extensions and developments of Paleolithic shamanism respectively: all three are systematic technologies of physio-psychic-spiritual transformation. It appears that in the Indian and Chinese traditions, physical, psychic and spiritual transformation all remained connected, even although sub-schools and movements arose which focussed on one or another aspect. In the West, the psychic and spiritual aspects of human elemental transformation experienced an amazing flowering in the Hermetic traditions which arose in Egyptian, Hellenistic and Arabic lands during the classical era, and flourished well into medieval times in Christian Europe. It was then suppressed, along with astrology, magic and witchcraft (the mostly herbal medicine traditions, mostly maintained by women healers) during the advent of the scientific, experimental method – leaving only chemistry, the science of material transformations, disconnected from all psychic and spiritual considerations.

In the Hellenistic period, Hermes (Thoth to the Egyptians, Mercury to the Romans) emerged as the main deity or spirit guide of the alchemical work of transformation. Hermes/Mercury was the divine messenger, carrying knowledge between the divine and human worlds – thus the practice of divination. In addition to Hermes the god, there was also a legendary human spiritual teacher, called Hermes Trismegistos ("Three-fold Great Hermes") who initiated a whole school of secret knowledge of self-transformation practices. The secrecy was so profound that the term "hermetically sealed" is still the symbolic expression of absolute secrecy. The teachings of the school were not secret arbitrarily or for reasons of power and control, as sometimes assumed: rather, they were secret, like esoteric yogic and shamanic practices are kept secret, because misuse of the knowledge by those motivated by greed or power could have harmful consequences.

European alchemy became known as the Hermetic tradition: while one strand of this knowledge stream concerned itself with the transformation of physical matter, the making of tools, medicines and instruments, the esoteric, mystical core of it were the practices of psychospiritual self-transformation. Because of the persecutory dominance of the Catholic Church, such practices, like the practices of shamanic witchcraft, were shrouded in secrecy. Texts were written and illustrated, but in a symbolic code, the keys to which were largely lost, and which therefore became increasingly garbled. It remained to C.G. Jung and his followers, in the 20th century, to recover the lost language of alchemy and reinterpret it as referring to psychospiritual transformation using symbolic and imaginal processes.

The focus in shamanism on the visionary altered-state "journey," was replaced in alchemy by metaphors from mining, smithing and cooking for the work (opus) of self-transformation. The extraction of precious metal from the mineral ore is metaphor for the extraction of spiritual essence from the rough matter of our bodily experience in the material world (called the prima materia). The purification of substances using fire or heat is metaphor for the refinement of thought and perception using the purification methods of yogic inner fire. The various operations of the alchemical work and art are metaphors for the intentional processes of psycho-spiritual transformation. For example, the operation called solutio or "dissolving," which was represented in alchemical literature with the image of a man sitting in a hot tub, is a metaphor for the process of dissolving the physio-psychic armoring and defensive structures that block and distort the flow of life energy, causing sickness, tension and discomfort.

Divination may be defined as the practice of seeking healing, insight and guidance from inner sources commonly called the "spirit world" or "divine world." Those with a more psychological bent might also say they are seeking knowledge from one's Higher Self, or Intuition. In most people's minds, the concept of divination involves symbolic systems such as the Tarot, the I Ching, the Nordic Runes, or astrology, or the reading of patterns of stones or bones, or even tea-leaves. Some call this method "object divination," where some apparently non-rational method, like laying out cards, or runes, gets us thinking "outside the box," of our problems. I think of these devices as divination accessories or tools. But what is the essential core of the process of divination? It involves a querent asking questions and a diviner obtaining answers, by non-rational, non-analytical means. Even when an object or accessory is used, there is always a question-and-answer process – just as in ordinary Western medicine and psychotherapy – you go to the doctor or therapist asking for help or guidance, and they use divination methods (called "diagnosis," to determine the cause and choose the treatment-answer).

In the inner traditions of shamanism and alchemy the querent and the diviner are one and the same person, and you ask questions of your own guiding spirits, higher self, or intuition. In fact, seeking knowledge from inner sources is a common mental process. When we use the phrase "I asked myself...," whether in conversation or in our silent thinking, we imply that there is some part within us that knows more than we (personally) do. You could say it is a statement of auto-divination. Modern individuals, trained in a scientific outlook, often shy away from divinatory practices, fearing to give any credence to what they consider ignorant superstition. But a moment's reflection will show that in order to "get out of the box" of the problems, we have to use either a non-rational method, such as the I Ching, or a heightened state of consciousness, such as is used in the shamanic drumming journey, to psychoactive plants, or deep states of hypnotherapy, or meditation, to access these higher and inner sources of knowledge. My friend Rupert Sheldrake, the English biologist and discoverer of morphogenetic fields, has pointed out that in science, the experiment is essentially the equivalent of ancient indigenous methods of divination: in an experiment, the scientist sets up a controlled environment that will provide answers to questions that are addressed to Nature.

The questions asked in any divination, are usually questions of personal and collective transformation, in relation to one's past, hidden present or probable paths to the future. In the alchemical divination methods that I teach, we use alchemical light-fire yogic methods to clarify perception. Questions about healing always involve looking into the past, to diagnose or find the causal root of illness, pain, trauma or unresolved problem. We may look, as Western medicine does, for the infection, germ, virus, bacteria or wounding. Or we may look, as shamanic practices of "soul retrieval" do, for a psychic identity fragment that has become disconnected. The past pain needs to be integrated into one's present reality and sense of self, for the healing process to be complete. So healing or therapy involves the double process of regression, for diagnosis and catharsis, and then recollection or remembering for integration.

A parallel situation obtains for the vision- or guidance-seeking process of future divination. One "looks ahead," down the probability lines of time-and-space, and then brings the visionary inspiration back into the present to be integrated into one's present sense of self. I have come to see regressive memory work as essentially parallel to divinatory foresight, or visioning work. My preferred symbolic deity image for this process is the two-faced Roman deity Janus – the god of passageways and doorways. In divination the intention or question of the divination always guides the process, and that makes it totally personal. The questioner seeks answers to personal questions of the past or the future. Meditative, centered states are used to facilitate transcending the space-time boundaries.

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