Cosmological Influences on Alchemy

Alchemy is a Mystical Art that requires patience.

I’ve been studying the alchemical arts for about a year now. Even after a year of rather intense study, let’s just say I haven’t made much progress, and I can totally understand and appreciate how and why it can take decades, if not a lifetime, to pursue and fully become Adept at the alchemical arts.

Why?

Well, it has a lot to do with time.

Not only can it take months, or even years, to complete an alchemical work, the time of year (or month/week/day/hour) when you conduct your work makes a big difference to the work itself. And becoming aware and perceptive of these differences is part of the process. Once you become aware of these influences, you can purposefully use these energies for the work.

So, how exactly, does this work?

Everything in the Universe is connected, yet we belong to various sub-collectives and egregores of connection too, like concentric circles (circles within circles).

For example, our Earth is affected by the magnetic fields of other cosmological bodies, like the planets, the Moon, and our Sun, just to name a few. And we, living on the surface of the Earth, are also impacted by these vibrational frequencies. Our behaviors and magnetic fields also affect the environment and other species. And so the fractal continues in both directions. This is where the origins of Astrology came from.

I was skeptical of Astrology for a long time, until I started to study Alchemy and Magick.

Ever heard of the term “lunatic?” It usually means that someone’s gone crazy, mad, or off-the-wall somehow. The etymology of this word comes from “luna” or Lunar, the alchemical archetype for our Moon. When it’s a Full Moon, usually a lot of strange things start to happen in society. Many police and emergency response teams anecdotally share that violence or ER patients increase during the Full Moon.

As for WHY the Full Moon seemingly has a negative influence is a different topic altogether 🙂

The magnetic frequencies and orbits of other cosmological bodies literally affect us. As Mystics, we need to take these forces into account before, during, and after we start some kind of Mystical work.

So when doing Alchemical work, we need to track and document how different mystical and physical forces affect us and our work. This could be anything from the atmospheric pressure, amount of humidity, lunar phase, zodiac positions, hormones, sleep, diet, any countless other variables that may affect us.

But once we become aware of these influences, we can utilize them to expand or enhance our Mystical works. And this, in turn, expands our own awareness during the process.

For example, as an Alchemist, I may want to work with herbs to create spagyric tinctures and medicines. I need to plan what herbs to plant in the spring, so that come summertime, I can harvest them and work with fresh material (which is ideal usually) when their life essence is strongest. During the fall, I may extract and store the seeds of the herb to prepare for next year, dry and store herbs, and start to ferment them. And during winter, I can harvest the roots, which are imbued with different energies because the energy the of Northern Hemisphere goes back into the ground during winter time.

When we start to become more aware of the energies that affect us, we in turn can learn how to use these energies to affect us in the ways we want.

Even though I’m an apprentice to Alchemy, planning my work around the seasons is a pretty awesome expansion of awareness. Before I started practicing laboratory alchemy, I only thought of the seasons as most of us probably do–the rolling weather changes, various holidays coming and going, change in food and mood, a year older, etc.

But the Alchemist, Witch, Magician, Shaman, or any other type of Mystic, knows that the cosmological influences on Humanity are quite real and quite profound. Carefully studying these influences will serve you well for any type of Mystical work. But it’s pretty much a requirement for the Alchemist 🙂