What is Spiritual Alchemy - The Historical Unification of Mysticism, the Philosophers Stone & Heresy
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- Опубликовано: 4 май 2023
- What is Spiritual alchemy? Emerging from the early 20th century quasi-vitalist, mystical interpretation of Mircea Eliade and the psychologizing interpretation of Carl Jung - both marked by a profoundly ahistorical approach - a position now known as the “new historiography” has attempted to re-locate alchemical theory and practice precisely as a historically developing theory of nature and the transformation of nature. However, many on the channel ask the same resounding question: “But what about the spiritual aspect of alchemy? Isn’t alchemy really about inner or spiritual transformation and not changing lead into gold?” In this episode, the first of several in a series, I’m going to explore just that question - the origins and development of spiritual alchemy in the European alchemical tradition. From radical mysticism of salvation, the alchemy of Paracelsus and heretical Protestants will emerge a theory of alchemical salvation with Christ as the philosophers' stone and will lay the groundwork for Theosophy and Occult spirituality for centuries to come.
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#occult #theosophy #alchemy #philosopherstone #mysticism
Recommended Readings:
Zuber - Spiritual Alchemy: From Jacob Boehme to Mary Anne Atwood - 978-0190073046
Other Readings:
Linden, Stanton J. (ed.) The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton. 978-0521796620. Nicely edited collection of alchemical primary texts.
Principe, Lawrence. The Secrets of Alchemy. 978-0226103792. An up-to-date history of alchemy.
Newman, William. Newton the Alchemist: Science, Enigma, and the Quest for Nature's "Secret Fire" 978-0691174877. Cutting edge research on alchemy in the 17th century.
Roob, Alexander(ed.) Alchemy & Mysticism. 978-3836549363. A collection of alchemical imagery and symbolism, also a nice coffee table book!
Spiritual / Psychology School of Interpretation
Atwood, Mary Anne. A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery….(many re-print editions). The first text to introduce the ‘spiritual interpretation” of alchemy.
Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible: The Origins and Structure of Alchemy. 978-0226203904. Religious-philosophical interpretation of alchemy.
von Franz, Marie-Louise. Alchemy: An Introduction to the Symbolism and the Psychology. 978-0919123045. An introduction to the Jungian psychological interpretation of alchemy.
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Religion for Breakfast is an excellent scholarly program but YOU SIR are a step beyond. Idk, if it's your look, your voice, the dry humor, or the quality of information/ presentation is fantastic. I enjoy every bit of your programs and the literature you recommend. You put alot of time, research, skill, passion and care into your work. Thankyou.
Found that today after watching your vid Doc.
@@lotuslicciardi5872 Dr Sledge brings the Hammer :D
The truth for me is animal understand because they recognize your words are truly worth listening too.
I can’t wait till 500 years from now when society is having debates about crypto bros in the same way
Ha!
Inner Bitcoin
@@wyattwatson9848 The Divine Doge.
Pseudo-Satoshi - The Platonic Theology on the Immortality of the Blockchain Soul
I feel the same way about superhero movies. will people a thousand years in the future think superhero movies were a form of religion to us today? 🤔😳😂🤣🤷
My man Justin throwing thinly veiled shade at Jordan Peterson, I love this channel's mix of serious academic teachings and absolutely deadpan jokes 😂❤
Came here for this command. Also, to confirm if it was indeed JP he was shading!
Why have people soured on JP havent been up to date
@@arete7884 I mean, he has never been well regarded by anyone other than reactionary conservatives. He became relevant for saying that the canadian law protecting transgender people would mean he would be jailed for using the wrong pronouns(the law passed and in the years since that hasn't happened once) and pretty much anyone who has knowledge of the things he says (for example, Justin here who is a scholar of history) knows that Peterson is objectively wrong in almost everything he claims.
This
I hate that anyone thinks Peterson is anything approaching a true scholar of Jung. He has zero grasp of the concepts he claims to study and is nothing but a grifter and charlatan. Jung would find him disappointing at the very least.
So, kinda like tarot, which originated in the Italian renaissance as a card game, but has morphed into an ancient spiritual tradition reaching back into Egyptian prehistory. Doesn't invalidate the evolved tradition, but shows it to be just that. We humans will gladly build elaborate belief structures on a crumbling cliff if we like the view.
Yep, one doesn't invalidate the other. But the Egyptian stuff is nonsense
@@TheEsotericaChannel I blame Yugioh for this propagation
@@diego777cas 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I think this might be the most important video you've made since the Satanic Panic one. Honestly, it should be required viewing for everyone in the esoteric tradition. There's so much misinformation out there which leads to outrageous claims, which are pretty much always a gateway to abusive and destructive behavior. Education shining a light on the darkness. Thank you so much for all you do, and I've already shared this one far and wide.
This was a fun one to make !
@@TheEsotericaChannel when your passion enriches the lives of others, that's when the real magic happens!
What abusive and destructive behavior? I'm not very familiar with esoteric traditions and their effects on people.
@@jakeaurod basically people who start cults in the esoteric milieu and take advantage of people. They often make outlandish claims about their authenticity and this goes hand in hand with other deceptive and manipulative behavior.
Certain people promulgate misinformation to those they deem unworthy.
Problem: then they pass on and the people they lied to repeat the lie!
If I have to be honest, coming from an East Asian background (Taiwanese specifically), I've never actually been exposed to spiritual alchemy before, and I've always understood alchemy as purely just "Medieval science", so this was actually a really interesting exploration into an entirely different interpretation of alchemy that I had simply never known before.
Thank you for your perspective!
To be fair I'm european and philosopher and I learnt a lot
"One part of the science of magic is practical, on account of how it works by operating with *spirit on spirit,* making those things similar that are not so by their essence. However, working with images involves *spirit on matter,* and alchemical work involves *matter on matter* "
- Author of the Ghāyāt al-Hakim (an alchemist, also author of the Rutbat al-Hakim)
But Dan you're just hiding all the quotes about "ReAl SpIRItUAl AlcHeMy"
@@TheEsotericaChannel😂
Three of the most handsome contemporary esoteric historiographers in one YT comment thread....I couldn't resist jumping in.
Nooo bro, you don't understand, alchemy is really about making mad gains at the gym
That Paracelsus to Creatine pipeline, tho
The amount of so-called “alchemists” who manufacture caffeinated powders is non-negligible. Maybe they could consider themselves sorcerers who construct golems?
It's the discipline of transforming no gains into mad gains fr fr
As a moderate fan of that “Jungian guru”, I have to say I felt similarly about his interpretation of the bible. How one can interpret something like that without taking into account the esoteric, multicultural, multi-linguistic origins makes no sense to me. This channel has been so incredibly eye-opening for that very reason!
Are you taking about "exodus"
Yeah, I'm not paying for that.
Probably a case of "When you got a hammer, everything looks like a nail.": Good expertise and success with it in one field tempts to apply it to more/other things.
@@Dowlphin a fair point. And there may be value in it at a personal level, even if the scholarship is questionable.
Peterson is a first grade level philosopher throwing tantrums.
Just saying.
Have you heard JP's interview with Alex the youtube kid (he's been speedrunning great interviews lately)? He says something, I think, telling of his method.
'What does face of God upon the waters even mean? Nobody knows'.
Well. That's not quite true. The most obvious conclusion is that waters refer to the cosmology. But to actually consult literature on this very subject means that he couldn't use such things for his own philosophies (and ultimately, his obsession with the world falling apart without a fundamental source of values, i.e. Christianity).
Most great generalizers (e.g. Germs Guns and Steel, who got criticized by experts in specific topics) do this... he just seems particularly prone to it and then saying 'nobody knows' when its very easily googleable.
"The most sure way to transform lead into gold" 🤣
You're a genius, Dr. Sledge! Who knew that *the Philosopher's Stone* was _actually a bullet!_
Thank you Dr Sledge, I now appreciate your scepticism regarding Jung. I must admit he has been a great influence on me and my linking Alchemy, Neoplatonism and particularly Ibn Arabi. I must relook and reappraise my position.
He's still interesting just not historically valid.
@@TheEsotericaChannel I could see how Jung's perception of alchemy may have been biased or incomplete, but I'm curious as to why viewing alchemy through the lens of projection is invalid. It explains why thoughts and practices of alchemy were so varied. Each alchemist is projecting his psyche into the work he's doing much the same way as how you are projecting your psyche through these videos or how I'm projecting my psyche via this comment. Projection is in alignment with the hermetic principle of correspondence.
24:20 You're absolutely right. Presentism is a bane to studying history, and I would think Jung did the same thing in forming his views. It's dangerous even to look back 50 years and "judge" the culture based on our current ideologies, let alone go back 600 years and say "yeah, well they were really backward people." Love your work as always!
I'm so excited for this!!! I just uploaded a "my notes" on my occult blog about spiritual alchemy and I plan on doing another one after going through your videos and resources about the topic! Thanks so much
Thanks so much for diving into this, especially the first half of the video. The approaches of Eliade & Jung are interesting, but not very historical. You briefly mentioned Lawrence Principe, and I highly recommended his course on the history of science to 1700 and his interview with Earl Fontainelle of the SHWEP. Him & Matteo Martelli are doing some amazing work. Thanks Dr. Sledge! Ill definitely be coming back to this video.
Side note: I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm excited for a potential class on Merkavah/Hekhalot literature!
Totally agree with all these tips - this is going to be a fun series to produce!
SHWEP has just done some interviews with Zosimos scholars as well!
Dr. Sledge, every time I see your videos about Alchemy and citing Jung I am perplexed…
Because, having read a good deal of Jung and Von Franz in the past, I don’t perceive an enormous difference between your and their understanding of Alchemy…
From my reading of what they wrote, my general understanding is they also saw alchemy as proto-science and proto-chemistry: they knew the old alchemists, in general, where primarly interested in working with chemical substances. Von Franz seems explicit about that in her book on Alchemy.
But then, there is the plethora of fantasies, images, errors in understanding of physical reality… and also the religious and mystical ideas associated with the work.
And THIS was what really caught Jung interest: the images, fantasies, ideas, errors of perceptions and explanations etc.
Because they where similar to fantasies, dream images etc. he had registered before while working with patients, in particular the psychotic ones: he was interested in a COMPARATIVE work between the material produced by the minds of the alchemists along the centuries, and that produced by the minds of 20th century patients.
This to try to understand the mechanisms at work in the mind of the patients.
And, of consequence, he did make some hypothesis about what was going on in the minds of some of the alchemists; for example what may have happened to the ones who REALLY felt they where doing some kind of “spiritual” work (like, maybe, Dorn)... or about how their errors came to be.
To really understand Jung reasoning on the matter, in my opinion, one needs to start from the experience with the patients, with people, NOT with Alchemy.
My own personal interest in the matter was born examining the experience of a person who was having many strange ideas born in his mind: among that, ideas about the “union of the opposites” or “union of the four elements” etc. etc.
This, I think, is the problem many people interested in Jung and Alchemy have: they don’t start with the practical experience with peoples fantasies, on the field.
Or they don’t keep it in mind while proceeding.
Oh yeah, they are really fascinated by the matter, by the images, by the mystery….
But, paradoxically, they don’t do the only truly Junghian thing to do: ask themselves... WHY the hell they are so fascinated by these things.
Why these things “capture” them so much?
By the way, this “fascination”, and from what it is born, is an integral part of Jung theory.
Also part of the theory, is the know tendency to get lost, to lose yourself, in this fascination.
To not really reflect about it.
A tendency I think can be seen in many “new age”, “spiritual” and pseudo-Junghian movements all around the world.
It seems also many “Junghian” therapist are affected by this.
It seems things really started to go to hell in the last years of Jung’s life, in the junghian circles: it is an interesting historical phenomenon on his own.
And Jung did NOT like what he was seeing.
For a start on the matter, I suggest reading “Jung and the making of modern psychology” by Shamdasani.
Going back to the beginning, as I said, from my experience listening to both, I don’t perceive an insurmountable difference between your position and that of Jung.
Your work is important and useful in primis from the perspective of people studying Jung:understanding what Jung was really thinking about Alchemy is not easy at all.
Trying to understand it while also trying to understand what the alchemists where exactly, practically, doing is harder.
Doing it with all the crap and misinformation that is flying around is…. a very big problem.
So, keep up the good job Dr. Sledge! I think… Jung would have liked it 😄
P.S.: Sorry for the bad english.
If I understand correctly, each of the misunderstandings within traditional alchemy can be traced back to its philosophical roots, and the strange imagery and use of allegory can be traced to medieval tropes and literary conventions. Therefore, the psychological interpretation loses all explanatory power, becoming a vestigial interpretation grafted onto a systems whose successes, failures, quirks, and norms are entirely or mostly understood through other, historically evidenced means.
In short, Jung claimed the alchemists projected aspects of their own psyche into their works, but there was little-to-no space wherein such projection could take place given existing theory, experimental practice, and literary convention.
@@jamesnomos8472 Perhaps what is being overlooked, is that Jung was proposing the symbolism communicated in alchemical text and imagery was being communicated unconsciously. The existing theory would have been unconsciously reinterpreted and projected by each alchemist in the same way as a preacher interprets and unconsciously projects their ideology with every sermon.
@@duddlemcpuddle The issue is that many of those symbols have alternative and highly specific explanations that are incompatible with the jungian explanations. Just because an assemblage of symbols resembles a narrative about the inner workings of the psyche does not then imply that the assemblage was modelled after those workings, consciously or unconsciously. This is especially the case where the symbolism of the specific substances and processes of alchemy became ossified early on; later uses of those symbols, discussing new insights in alchemy, would simply not have had the freedom to choose their symbolism and thus not have been able to imbue conscious or unconscious meanings into their descriptions.
Re: the Zosimus connection, here's an excerpt from the foreword of my copy of the Rutbat al-Hakim) by Theodor Abt
"The publication of this fourth volume of the Corpus Alchemicum Arabicum (CALA IV) is a milestone in achieving our aim to make the wealth of Arabic alchemy more easily accessible for research. Maslama b. Qasim al-Qurtubi (died 353/964), the author of this Rutbat al-hakim, provides a basic teaching of alchemy, quoting extensively from Zosimos' Mushaf as-suwar. Zosimos was an alchemist who lived in the 3rd/4th century and is generally considered to be the first alchemist known to us by his true name […]. The significance of the present publication is to be seen in the relationship to the earlier volumes of this series, especially to CALA II and CALA III. The author of the Rutbat al-hakim emphasises the importance of understanding symbols (rumuz). The publication of the Rutbat al-hakim as CALA IV rounds up the first four publications in this series: They started with the Kitab hall ar-rumuz (Book of the Explanation of the Symbols), written by the Arab alchemist Muhammad ibn Umail (10th century). Then in the next volumes, in CALA II and CALA III, there came a further clarification of the symbols given by the Greek alchemist Zosimos, and now, in CALA IV, we find an overview of the knowledge and significance of the symbols (rumuz), written by another Arab alchemist.”"
50 minute video: 😊
"Part of a series": 😊😊😊
Well, there goes my plan for building a Holy Mountain style glass egg sweat lodge to turn myself into gold
You can still do that.
I was doing research on money in Chilean history. I found an old saying and it's explanation: Paraf's gold. Paraf was a french (alsacian) industrial chemist who traveled first to California and then to Chile selling his services. He apparently had read alchemical manuscripts written by his own grandfather (let's say the 1790s). Chile had had an important gold industry but in the 1600s. Paraf managed to convince a bunch of high class rich men to invest in him. the gold standard had JUST been set. Chile had to change internal industry as a reaction. Paraf was just the best bet. But the moment he started large scale production, it became clear there was Some kind of foul play. Then the Paraf Gold started selling stocks. It was absolutely a dudebro ponzi level racket, but one with a french alchemist right in the middle! The author of the book I'm reading in it (written 1934 as anti socialist propaganda) is absolutely unable to decide whether alchemy is full mysticism (and therefore evil) or only very bad chemistry (explicitly critized as looking too much like a cook book).
Super cool
Were I ever to come into fortune, my megalomaniacal dream is to become a patron of the arts, to keep scholars and authors on retainer, like what used to be called philanthropists and mesens.
And I'm afraid I would use this power for evil, like selfishly effectively hiring people like Dr. Sledge, who graciously spend their time educating people and setting knowledge free, to instead compose fiction for me (with any such creations being made freely available for everybody forever, if that's a saving grace).
Humor and daydreaming aside, this had been my way of relating my deep wish to read short stories or novels written by Dr. Sledge.
Most authors, when touching upon deep and rich subjects, do this trick where they sprinkle info tidbits across their narrative, seemingly bestowing upon the reader mere morsels from their well-stocked pantry of knowledge. Only there never is any pantry. Whatever's made it onto the reader's plate makes up the entirety of the author's superficial knowledge.
Not so with academics like Dr. Sledge. In his case, I also trust his abilities to tell stories with great pacing, language, comedy, morals, and more.
I hope someday the world may enjoy such a work from his hand. If there's ever a Patreon or Kickstarter for this, I'll chip in as far as my means allow.
You need to know that the von Hoenheim joke/easter egg did not go unnoticed. Had to literally stop the video to catch my breathe from the laughter! Thank you!
So edifying. I remember my college course in alchemy that was a gentlly insistent teaching that alchemists were early chemists ONLY. I gently rejected that scholarship but your lecture encourages me to go back and reconsider the history. So relieved we don't have to throw out the baby with the - uh - bathwater! Again, a hearty thanks for a lecture in the spirit of the late, great Hans Jonas. A respectful, penetrating, look at belief and practice. ( I don't know the Jung and Eliade theories well enough to accept wholeheartedly your reading - more work to do). Glad to see Mary Anne Atwood mentioned. There's Netflix series in her story, for sure...
50 min ep on alchemy, we are not worthy! Thanks so much for your work in alchemical historiography and bringing attention to others working in the field. I’ve been on the edge of ‘practical Lab alchemy’ practice for the better part of a decade and trying to find any useful info even 5 years ago was difficult. It’s really exciting to see the development in that time and seeing academics pursue some of the work in the lab is so illuminating. Thanks for all the work Dr. Sledge ❤❤❤❤
Incredible content, as always Dr. Sledge. I’ve been learning about all these topics over the years but none of the resources have been as thorough and detailed as your videos. Much gratitude! ❤
the drama when a court spritual alchemist tries to convice the lord that the philospher's stone and therefore endless gold was within his grasp, and some country alchemist shows up "this is a bomb, we can get gold with this" hahaha
Yep, gunpowder is hella alchemy
Great comment
Aside of all the wonderful information I get here I find starting my day with his voice is calming and welcome. I simply enjoy listening to him speak and the icing is all the information. Thanks for all you do.
Just a second ago I was thinking "Man I could really use an Esoterica video to watch right now." Lo and behold!
This is definitely a video I need to watch again later. I had by pure chance come across and been reading Meister Eckhart for entirely non-alchemical reasons and yet, here I am. I've been thoroughly enjoying it and can understand some of these connections now.
As a Christian who went through a Jungian phase, I so very much appreciate the shade thrown at 20:52. A friend of mine (ironically adamantly anti-Abrahamic) was until recently such a huge fan of his and still can't wrap his head around the fact that I read enough of Maps of Meaning back in 2016 to have always seriously doubted him since.
It was a really clever jab haha
Abyssimus so you don't like anything or don't believe there any points good stuff from Jung?
@@jamesisaacson6379 Please read what I actually said instead of reading assumptions into what I said.
@abyssimus I understand your skepticism of "so" questions, I usually don't answer them either because I perceive "so" to almost always preface a statement such as "so you think this [thing you don't think]? You're a real piece of work."
However I believe he was being genuine when he asked if you rejected Jung outright or just on these topics. I am also curious about your perspective, since you described it as a phase, and want to ask if you still find anything valuable in the Jungian framework
@@sameash3153 My present views on Jung aren't relevant to my assessment of Peterson. I looked at Maps of Meaning, thought "gosh, this looks like the stuff that the Jungians I'd been reading have moved past with an extra emphasis on potentially problematic material, and doubling down on the tendency of some Jungians to treat counter-examples as incomplete development (if they're acknowledged at all)."
I really appreciate the huge amount of work you do for your research, it's really complex and informative of such diverse aspects of a topic. I'm astounded.
One of the most important videos on alchemy I've ever seen. Your work really helps our research into Alchemy. Thanks!☀
I am ao thankful for this channel and the work you do here. I especially enjoy your alchemy videos and hope to see much more on the subject, especially pre European alchemy, spiritual, technical and all.
That's basically just Zosimus and maybe the ismailiis to a lesser degree
This video answered and dove even further than I thought you could a question I had watching an older video. Impressive as always friend.
This fascinating video exemplifies exactly the reason why I subscribed to your channel, Dr Sledge. Once again, you have eloquently answered many questions I had on this topic.
As Chem Engineer who took 2 semesters of Hist of Science, I'm in the "making better gunpowder generates more gold than the Philosopher's Stone" camp. I guess I'm your one NON-Jungian NON-spiritual alchemy person!
Very interesting to learn about the twisted paths alchemy took as it progressed through time. Looking forward to the next video.
Even the Jungian projection of psychosis, er, psychoanalysis into alchemy is interesting. ;) And I'm glad to hear that a paradigm shift on the study of alchemy is occurring.
When I found this channel last year, this is the video series I was looking for. 😊
I don't know how, but your videos just keep getting better and better. I'm pretty sure this is my favorite RUclips channel now. Thank you so much, Dr. Sledge! I have learned a LOT from you, and it's particularly enlightening to see how much of what you described here has "bled into" theology. Super interesting stuff. Can't wait for the next one!
You are performing a tremendously valuable service. Stunning, really. Thank you immeasurably.
Oh dang, I'm early to this one! Thank you for all the work you do, Dr Sledge sir!
Hey I'm really liking this longer deep dives format, it'd be great if you could do more of these.
10 minutes in and my previous conceptions and understandings are shattered. This is a good one
The depth of content, presentation and application on spiritual alchemy is unparalleled. Thank You❤ please…more on spiritual alchemy 🙏🏻
They'll be at least 3 parts of this series
@@TheEsotericaChannel This news makes me very happy. Ex-Mormon here, so this is a big key component.
Jeez I needed this video in my life. Well played Dr sledge
Hope you dig it, brother!
Hey there, new esoteric studier. I'm new too. If the length of this video is intense for you, i would say one of the best takeaways is actually in the introduction, from 8:35 to 11:15. It's a good reality check and really sets the scene for the rest of the video.
Was just introduced to this channel by being shared this video. An absolute pleasure, i will admit i did know already quite a bit of this going in but always great to at least get my knowledge further refined. Will be watching more in future!
As soon as you said 'Born Again' my brain sparked and started to wonder about the connection to modern day evangelicals, so glad you brought it up. So many of the explanations, images and exact words in the text you presented is strikingly similar of the salvation process and how the the power of Jesus is explained within those churches today. I've known that many of those branches started in germany in the early 19th century but I've always wondered where they got the idea. For over 30 years I've never understood where they've come up with this talk as I never was able to directly correlate it to scripture. And trying to wrap your head around it as a kid without the backstory of how these interpretation came to be, I always felt it being very detached and hard to make the connection. Of course most people in those circles do not care and do not know how these thoughts emerged historically. And trust me it's not encouraged to go study for yourself. Thanks for Finally bringing this piece to the puzzle to me! People in these groups always speak about their teachings as immutable facts, and it's so awesome to see the progression of how these concepts evolved over time and the connection to alchemy. This made me warm and fuzzy inside :) (Is the transformation happening)
As a former born-again evangelical, this is a fascinating comment to read
Thank you so much for all the knowledge that you give every week. I wanted to point out a verse from the Hari Bhakti Vilasa. This is a book written in the 1500s in Northern India by a saint scholar named Sanatana Gosvami. Previously he had been a minister in the court of Nawab Hussain Shah.
He writes: yathā kāñcanatāṁ yāti kāṁsyaṁ rasa-vidhānataḥ
tathā dīkṣā-vidhānena dvijatvaṁ jāyate nṛṇām
“As bell metal is turned to gold when mixed with mercury in an alchemical process, so one who is properly trained and initiated by a bona fide spiritual master immediately becomes a brāhmaṇa.”
I thought you might find this interesting that he is connecting alchemy to spiritual initiation and becoming a brahamana.
Though some people are just born Brahmans
Love these deep dives!! Keep it up! 🙏💙
Ooh thank you, so excited by this new topic :o) Brilliant analysis of this history so far.
Another great Friday thanks to you, Dr Sledge.
I took a course at KU on the History of Prints and Printmaking. I really loved the images from the various alchemical texts. Bravo!
Great analysis, as always 🌞
I can’t wait to hear your take on Böhme. I plan to do a video on him as well.
That episode will be restricted to only his discussions of alchemy in the Aurora and signatura. Böhm's theosophy is often just a mess of ideas, though.
Dr. Sledge! I respect you very much. In particular, I appreciate your historical rigor balanced with an appreciation for people's own spiritual pursuits. You went out of your way to say just that about alchymy -- all the while wonderfully clarifying presentation of alchemy as legitimate proto-science simply participating in the symbolical and cultural milieu of its time. It's a treat to find scholars and thinkers like yourself, particularly on a popular platform like this.
Out here doing my best - thanks for the kind words!
I'm also often impressed by your charitably accurate representations of Christian thought and practice. It is refreshing to hear someone work so hard to aspire toward truth, irrespective of his personal beliefs or tastes. Just wonderful. This world needs more like yourself! I aspire to emulate your example.
Thanks, my job is to be as accurate as I can to the facts. My personal beliefs just don't and shouldn't factor into that.
As someone who studied chemistry first and discovered alchemy later, I have been looking forward to this video.
When I first started mixing “potions” at the age of 5, I thought I would follow a practical career path that would give me the recipes and methodologies to make compounds that could be observed, could be falsifiable or proven incorrect, and that could be repeatable (the scientific method).
Now, when I hear about spiritual alchemy, I think of poets and philosophers who were trying to make sense of their worlds through different media.
I suppose I need to study of history of science in tandem with philosophy of science. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m out of my league with philosophical theory or frameworks, but I appreciate your hard work in giving us entertaining knowledge with thorough contextualization, Dr. Sledge!
Cheers to the seeking of knowledge 📚
I think it's pretty clear that the new historiography folks aren't trying to resuce alchemy to a proto positivism or essentialize/reduce it to merely chemistry as we hear in the polemics of spiritual alchemy defenders like Tilton or Cailian. Newman and Principe say explicitly in their article something like "we aren't saying there weren't spiritual alchemies." They were just concerned to correct the Jungian idea that none of the chemistry worked. That said I do agree that the new historiography would benefit from attention to the developments in philosophy of science historicizing the very concept of science. That's why I got so excited when i noticed Terence McKenna dropping the name of his teacher Paul Feyerabend in his alchemy lectures...
I largely agree, but that's the critique and I thought I should mention it.
@@TheEsotericaChannel Oh yeah definitely worth mentioning. It's weird that historians of science are still such dinosaurs in terms of not being hip to these 1960s era developments in Phil sci. But then again it's not exactly their field. On the other hand the hipper science studies folks have an unfortunate tendency of going off into unreadable postmodernism trips
I truly appreciate your scholarly and well read panoramic perspective on this topic. A very interesting review of Alxhemy and it's trending into the spiritual realm of transformation overlaid with the terrestrial chemical laire. Thank you for a great and informative video!
I found this quote to be interesting: "But even though the advanced chemist … felt obliged to conclude that the alchemists who claimed these properties for their Gold must, after all, have been referring not to Chemistry, but to some spiritual operations whose sanctity demanded some such symbolic veil as the cryptographic use of the language of the laboratory”. -- Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, 1929-1930.
Yep, unsurprisingly Crowley got it wrong too, probably via Atwood.
I have to admit I am not attuned to the current "spiritual alchemy" vibe, but I was impressed by your explanation of radical Protestant mysticism's idea of salvation. It struck me as remarkably similar to how I was taught in the niche of Christianity of my youth. We had a dual teaching of salvation: judicial redemption and organic salvation. The first saves us from eternal judgment; the second qualifies us for millenial (and eternal) reward. Organic salvation includes regeneration (divine birth in the human spirit), transformation (inner working of Christ in the soul), and glorification (change to the body of glary). Christ in this sense is indeed the material and the agent of this salvation.
Thank you for starting the videos with you talking and not some filler bs your channel way better then most
Editing this one must have been a trip. What I find astonishing is how you can bake such a cake without getting lost in the frosting.
Very interested, I look forward to the next videos in the series.
This was excellent. Looking forward to the series. Thank you.
I love all your videos. You are absolutely my favorite academic right now 😀
I always viewed alchemy as a slightly scientific method that got us to modern day chemistry and our understanding of elements and their particles
Have a cookie.
@@Duiker36 Be nice.
Your content just keeps getting better!
Thank you, I will watch this series and purchase a shirt. I appreciate your work Sir.
Wow! amazing piece! You've done a tremendous job of comparing/contrasting the science/chemistry with the soul/transformation. That is an alchemical process in itself! 😍 It's tricky to put ourselves in the shoes of people far back in history - did they think the same as us, or would their thinking have been alien? The descent into focussed taxonomic science in 17th Century - animal, mineral, vegetable LOL - caused a plethora of allegorical books on alchemy (I'm thinking the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz at a minimum) and thus a "As Above, So Below" approach to science? Or is that a 21st Century phenomenon? In the same way that ChatGPT and AI have us humans thinking about existential transhumanism questions (what is human, what is thought, what is reality, can AI and Avatars have a soul?) as we face emergent technology and science?
Food for thought. My focus is on emergent tech with business and government combined with historical esoteric initiation. (And thank you again, I gave a shout out to this channel in my first podcast episode of #AlchemyOfInnovation - you plant seeds very well. 😃)
This was an intensely fascinating and informative episode, I'll definitely need to give it one (or even two) more listens. I think someone you'd enjoy having a conversation with about this subject is Max Derrat, he's a RUclipsr who often employs Jungian alchemical analysis to modern media. Also the jab at 20:54 LOL
I was absolutely ecstatic to see the title of today's video, and found it to be tremendously helpful and informative! I can't wait for the next one; my book of Jacob Boehm's art is one of my favorites, and I have been dying to know more about him and his work, beyond what my enthusiastic internet scholarship and fine arts degree could muster!
I was also delighted to learn of Paracelsus' role in the development of spiritual alchemy; he's one of my favorite historical figures... and not only because he has the coolest name ever! But definitely partly because he has the coolest name ever. Also cause he invented toxicology and united medicine and chemistry. But now you mean to tell me Doctor Bombast also basically invented (European) spiritual alchemy? Rad!
Seriously... Celsus got *nothin* on this guy...
May I flatter myself to think that my recent message to you on alchemy and Jung provided some encouragement for you to cover this topic in this video and upcoming series?
Thanks for this fascinating rundown! I particularly enjoyed the heartfelt admonition against oversimplification and imposition of modern categories, starting around 23:45 - Preach!
On this note, you mention the prevalent tendency to associate religious Goods with best practice in various crafts, including alchemy - it would be interesting to learn your view on whether the notion of spiritual progress through devotion to a craft, which is found in some current ideas purportedly based on Sufi schools, for example, is a modern imposition or is evidenced by this strand of thinking.
Also, I do wonder whether you'll get around to consider the relation of the Fama and Confessio to the emerging tradition you introduce in the latter half of this episode! Exciting times :)
Yeah, I was "born again" as a child in the sixties, and the story even then was Jesus would come to live inside of me and transform me.
That was freaking AWESOME!!! Jacob Boehme is my hero, can’t wait!
I actually learned about alchemical laboratory work first then years later I learned about Jung. Both are equally grand
This is a fine & relevant treatment and I highly agree with the praise others have offered. Thank you. But I share a version of the concern you pointed out: that a hard division of the sciences into those that are "about matter" versus those that are "about spirit" would be an anachronistic and unhelpful simplification. The question "what the world is basically made of" is not wholly distinct from the question of what we ourselves are, and our destiny. Looking forward to the Boehme video!
The hard division between matter and spirit is the least anachronistic aspect of any of this. That division goes back to at least Plato.
Great timing, I've just turned in my chapter on Terence McKenna and Alchemy which has a section on the spiritual alchemy historiography debate
Funny you and I have been on this tip for like 20 years or something - we really go get back !
@@TheEsotericaChannel 💅🏼
@@TheEsotericaChannel I was turned onto that Newman and Principe article by Allison Coudert in around 2005
I never heard of spiritual alchemy until I looked further into alchemy on my own, my impression from pop culture is that alchemy is the pseudoscientific precursor to chemistry where they tried to transmute lead into gold
This channel is amazing! Thank you for all you do sir!
Amen for take this subject up. I understand you will be fair in your judgement.
I had no idea about any of this until I watched this video. Thank you for keeping me truly informed🤘.
I not only love your videos, but also your comment section. Great audience.
Justin you are sublime.I like your truth and practice and staggering knowledge.
cannot WAIT for the Böhme episode!!
Thank you sir, I appreciate and admire your work.
Always a pleasure to watch your work
aww, the thumbnail 🥰 that's the cutest ouroboros i've ever seen, those adorable little paws
From a great Byzantine alchemical manuscript.
Oh you have all my attention!
You have thrown so many interesting things at me, and I have yet to track down texts.
I am a visual artist and I am personally interested in the language of images, so I am truly hoping to find a text that explains the allegorical meaning of different images for example, the ‘green lion’ you have shown to be a chemical that dissolves ‘the sun’ which represents gold.
I would love to be able to decipher such images.
I know there was a Dutch text that explained, for artists, the ‘moral of the story’ as it should be depicted in (largely) 17th century Protestant Dutch paintings.
Oddly you have touched on my own ‘born again’ Protestant upbringing, so it’s fascinating to me for you to expose the roots of that.
Interestingly, the ‘Lets Talk Religion’ gentleman who explained hermeticism brought me to the other end of my spiritual exploration. As he explained it, Hermeticism is nearly indistinguishable for Hindu Vedanta Philosophy, and echoed also in Dr. Bronners’ “All is One!” Message.
I found you oddly from an interesting angle - I was fascinated with the image “The goat of Mendes” as drawn by Elisha’s Levi. On learning he was an alchemist, it peaked my interest. What did philosophy have to do with alchemy? Because, I had always known alchemy as a proto-science, a precursor to chemistry.
And why do I keep coming back to things that happened in the 17th Century?
Ooo, the history of how other people thought, from their point of view.
So much brain candy.
I’m a huge fan of Jung. His ideas have impacted my fiction and my spirituality, and The Red Book is one of the most amazing mystical texts I’ve ever read, because it validated a lot of my own mystical experiences. Videos like this are so important, so I can get my facts straight before I attempt any formal academic study of these topics. I need my scholarship to inform my mysticism and not the other way around. Thank you Dr. Sledge!
I’m a huge Jung fan as well. With that being said, I don’t take his word as law. It’s really cool to see multiple viewpoints and one that is strictly academic.
@@zachs4956 I agree, I think Jung would be the first to acknowledge a layer of his own projections in his interpretation of alchemy.
Your dog was a welcomed guest it seems haha.
This was really good. Enjoying all your content. I’m surprised you don’t have a video on talismanic magic. Just throwing that out there.
Your impeccable lectures go a long ways to curing those who suffer from religious neurodivergence
I look forward to hearing your next video
If neurodiversity refers to how brains operate, and that there is neurotypicality (mainstream OS) and neurodivergence (alternative OSs), what, then, is religious neurodivergence, as opposed to religious neurotypicality, and why does it need curing? Yes, a little dig, but, as a neurodivergent person, I couldn't resist 🙂
Great lecture. Your historical perspective to Alchemy has taken an important turn away from the purely positivist views and the general theories of Eliade, Jung and certain other moderns. For a rejected form of knowledge it mysteriously seems to be seeping into everything from political, religious and anthropological beliefs. Understanding its historical formation is vital to the current situation.
well as a chemist and a classist this is quite fascinating. Really like this tact. Very erudite.
Im loving these longer forms
your knowledge is extraordinary. i get totally absorbed into every episode. thank you so much for everything you do
Great video! Very informative and entertaining.
I was hoping you'd mention the Rosicrucian pamphlets, such as the Fama (1614), when it says: "But now concerning (and chiefly in this our age) the ungodly and accursed Gold-making, which hath gotten so much the upper hand, whereby under colour of it, many runagates and roguish people do use great villanies, and cozen and abuse the credit, which is given them: yea nowadays men of discretion do hold the transmutation of Mettals to be the highest point, and fastigium in Philosophy, this is all their intent, and desire... we therefore do by these presents publickly testifie, That the true Philosophers are far of another minde, esteeming little the making of Gold, which is but a parergon; for besides that they have a thousand better things."
When I first read this I thought they're advocating spiritual alchemy as the true version, thoughts?
This is downstream of the texts discussed in this episode
I know it's outside the purview of this series, but I'd love to see a video focused on Zozimos. He's a somewhat difficult figure to read about, and I think you could offer a lot of insight into this mysterious figure.
He'll get an episode for sure, this summer sometime probably
Love your videos, keep up the good work.
777 I sure do love these youtube videos! Namaste, dear Teacher!
I recently read the tales of E. T. A. Hoffmann. He obviously uses a lot of alchemical terms - I wonder if he was a fan of spiritual alchemy, or if he hid some chemical formula in the text.