Glossary Of Alchemical Terms
The following is a combined list of alchemy terms from the glossaries at the back of my books, The Second Half of the Mountain: A Guide to Personal Alchemy after Awakening and Down from the Mountain: On Being Human after Spiritual and Alchemical Initiation.
I’m not claiming to be an authority on what any of these words mean, as they may mean different things in different traditions. I’ve done my best to give you definitions of the lesser-known alchemical terms I use in my books, writings, and podcasts to help you understand what I mean when I use them.
Some of them are long-standing terms from the alchemical tradition, and some of them are terms I made up along the way to help myself better understand certain processes. I hope you won’t cling too tightly to any of it. And of course, feel free to make up your own words and definitions as you see fit.
the Above
The nonphysical realms of energy, spirit, the unseen, and the formless perceived through subtle and extrasensory perceptions. Not “above” in the spatial sense, but in the hidden sense. The realms of the Above are all around and within us.
alchemical metabolism
The ability to ingest the raw material of your human life—loss, pain, disappointment, challenges, grief, anger, confusion—and go through the necessary processes to alchemize it into something beautiful and meaningful so it doesn’t turn into festering poison within.
beauty
I’m not sure anything has been as vital to me on my soul-saving journey as beauty. When I say beauty, I’m not talking about glamour or cultural standards of physical appearance. I’m talking about what lights, lifts, and sustains the soul. What each of us finds beautiful is as unique as we are. Beauty appeals to our humanity, softening our defenses, and opening the heart to love and compassion. Beauty connects us to each other and to every living thing, to how inescapably difficult and precious it is to be here. In the words of Emily Dickinson: “Beauty is not caused. It is.” During my more difficult times, when I’ve been stripped raw and wracked with grief, beauty has still been there, infusing me with aliveness just when I feel I’m about to disappear. Beauty is a lifeline for my soul. Even if I can’t always take it in and feel it, I have to point toward it. I have to know it’s there.
the Below
The physical realms of matter and form perceived through the five senses. Not “below” in the spatial sense, but in the density sense.
the between
The relational space between two differing things or beings in which magic is created. The first and most important between space for the alchemist is the space between the subtle perceptions of the formless and the physical form. After going through the seven stages of transformation, the alchemist becomes the between space in which the powers of the Above and the Below meet for the wielding of sacred magic through the human body, life, and heart—the crossroads of varying dimensions and realms.
body double
The energy body or eternal self that can carry out purpose and intent in nonphysical reality while your attention and efforts are also on physical reality. The well-developed body double is independent from but congruent with your physical self, making it easier to be in both realities at once. This is also known as the dreaming body in shamanic traditions as it’s developed through dreaming states, either awake or asleep. It can also be developed through the higher operations of alchemy as you travel the vertical axis and expand your awareness of the nonphysical realms.
breaking containers
A term I used to describe my felt experience often when I was bringing my newly incarnated self back into my same old life and doing the same things differently. The energy of my alignment was too big to fit into the old configurations and would rush forth through them, busting the dams and flooding former narratives with new life while my immediate self endured the tension.
Burning Man
An annual gathering in the Nevada desert of the United States, which becomes a temporary city of art built on the principles of self-expression, inclusion, and leaving no trace. Community building, participation, and selfless offering of one’s talents for the enjoyment of others are central to the experience.
calcination
The first stage of the alchemical pattern in which the substance is heated by fire. Calcination works to loosen the ego’s rigid grip on and identification with material reality.
coagulation
The seventh stage of the alchemical pattern in whichthe soul and spirit unite in an inseparable union, creating the Philosopher’s Stone within. (See also, radiation, another alchemical function of the seventh stage and beyond.)
codependency
Habitual, self-defeating behaviors that keep us from cultivating relational intimacy, peace, and joy. A response to trauma. A response to being raised in dysfunctional families with alcoholics, addicts, and family members with chronic illness and special needs—the perfect setup for hyperfocusing on the behaviors, needs, and wellbeing of others while under-focusing on our own. Chronic self-abandonment. Chronic self-disconnect masked by pseudo intimacy.
conjunction
The fourth stage of the alchemical pattern in which the soul and spirit unite for the first time, creating a creative and spiritual awakening that forms the Lesser Stone within and that marks the beginning of the journey up the second half of the mountain.
Couch Pose
Like savasana (one of the hardest yoga poses) but with more movies and snacks. This is a pose I found myself held to often when recovering from burnout and learning to come back to life in the world. A pose I still practice when I’m dipping into the lower vertical for some healing or soul dreaming. A pose I practiced during the writing of this book anytime I needed to untangle my compulsive mind drive and activate my soul.
cycle
There’s a difference between vicious cycles that keep us stuck in repetitive and destructive ruts (think hamster wheel) and cycles that propel us forward (think spiral or corkscrew that reaches a deeper level with each turn). When I use the word cycle, I’m referring to the cycles of alchemy that, by nature, help us evolve as long as we are engaged in transmuting along the way.
dissolution
The second stage of the alchemical pattern in which the ashes that remain from the fire are dissolved in the waters of the subconscious soul.
distillation
The sixth and nearly unbearable stage of alchemical transformation where the human alchemist undergoes seemingly interminable wash, rinse, repeat cycles in order to clear the way for the soul and spirit to unite and congeal within. Distillation is where it gets worse before it gets worse, until…
ego
Ego is a word that gets thrown around a lot in many thought camps—spiritual, psychological or otherwise. I use it in this book to mean any unalchemized bit in the psyche that may be getting in the way of fuller mind, body, spirit, and soul alignment. I also use it to mean the part of the psyche that carries your concept of self and life at any given stage on the path, which is a necessary and useful component for alignment.
the Emerald Tablet
The ancient and cryptic text depicting the keys to alchemical transformation and uncovering the Philosopher’s Stone within. Hermes Trismegistus—the Father of Alchemy—is often cited as the author, although its true source is also said to be unknown. The Emerald Tablet serves as the foundation for Hermetic literature and practice. Endless commentaries and interpretations of the ancient text (including my book The Second Half of the Mountain: A Guide to Personal Alchemy after Awakening) have unfolded and continue to unfold throughout time.
fermentation
The fifth stage of the alchemical pattern in which the conjunction of the soul and spirit begins to break down and create darkness and decay. The dark nights indicate a powerful process in which the ego is suppressed so as to grow the soul.
the Great White Nothing
A term I coined for the no (wo)man’s land of the dark night of the spirit—an impenetrable nothingness in every direction and every realm.
the Great Work
Also called the magnum opus, undertaking the Great Work means using the raw materials of life (prima materia) and engaging in the alchemical procedures required to form and subsequently maintain and wield the Philosopher’s Stone. Basically, the work required to bring all fragmented parts of the soul and personality onto one coherent and congruent page.
the Greater Stone
Formed in the heart after surviving the breakdown of the first conjunction upon awakening (the Lesser Stone) and the subsequent dark nights of the soul, dark nights of the spirit, and distillation. The words “greater” and “lesser” are unfortunate in the sense that they carry better than/worse than connotations, but it’s helpful to remember that the two stones are not separate from each other or made from different substances. It helps to think of the Greater Stone as a magnification of the Lesser Stone, as it often feels like it mirrors the Lesser Stone at an expanded level. The Lesser Stone is meant to break down and become the Greater Stone through the pressure of the dark nights and the purifying cleanses of distillation. The Greater Stone, however, is not susceptible to breakdown, but remains steady through the maintenance programs of Rapid Cycle Alchemy and inner vertical travel, particularly travel to the lower vertical.
the Hermetic Network
A living, pulsating, dynamic network of physical and non-physical entities who study, live, and breathe the practices of alchemy, adding to its ever-growing and changing body of knowledge and experience throughout time/no time. It’s a network that resists organization by its very nature and thus has no hierarchy or leadership and resides nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
higher operations of alchemy
The stages and procedures that take place after initial spiritual awakening and the formation of the Lesser Stone at stage four—conjunction.
karma
In this book and work, I use this word to mean everything in the psyche that is not cleared or healed, thus creating a loop or pattern that keeps our story on repeat and must be broken in order to form the Greater Stone within. Karma can be understood simply as cause and effect.
the Lesser Stone
A term used for the first formation of the Philosopher’s Stone upon awakening at stage four. Although it is an iteration of the stone, it’s a fragile conjunction susceptible to breakdown, thus we undergo the higher operations of alchemy—the procedures of the dark nights and distillation—in order to form the second or Greater Stone within, which is permanent and abiding.
Lift Drop Crash
A term I adopted from my early alchemy guide, Robin Rice, to describe the sixth alchemical stage of distillation where you’re constantly being lifted to the heavens and dropped to the earth in quick, successive, seemingly never-ending cycles to separate the subtle parts of you from the personality parts of you, or the essence from the form. This can also feel like getting the rug pulled out from under you every time you try to take a step.
the Lower Vertical
The lower part of the internal vertical axis, below horizontal life, where we go for soul healing, renewal, recalibration, and integration. When we go down into the lower vertical, it doesn’t always feel good because we lose perspective on horizontal life in order to do so. It’s a willing (or unwilling) temporary ego disconnection for the sake of soul reconnection and redirection. After we’ve been through the initiation of the dark nights and distillation, the lower vertical trips serve as mini dark nights to help us continually integrate the shadow and navigate with soul.
magical alliance
Two differing and autonomous magical beings solid in their individual (and ever-flowing) alignments meeting in the relational space with respect, equality, mutual exchange of energy, and curiosity in order to create magic together. Magical alliances can be formed between human and human, human and animal, human and land, human and non-incarnate beings.
the magical third
The third way or third thing formed by bringing the tension of opposites together without foregoing one for the other.
magical will
An intuitive sense or awareness that arises through the physical body, bypassing thoughts of right or wrong. Magical will is born in us through the procedures of distillation, aiding in the wielding of the stone. When we learn to act on magical will without understanding or being privy to its deeper meanings and implications, great and astounding magic is possible—sacred magic. Although it may not impress the ego, it illuminates the soul and spirit. This is the magic of our entire being at work, not just the magic of the thinking mind. However, before undergoing the higher operations of alchemy (the dark nights and distillation), our psyches are still too fragile to realize, trust, and work fully with magical will. Once we’ve alchemized the psyche to a certain point and cleared enough conditioning out of the way, the soul receives pure downloads from spirit and turns it into the will to act without thought processes slowing us down and getting in the way. Honoring magical will requires surrendering our immediate ideas of things—including any kind of assurance that we are right or wrong, good or bad—and trusting the unknown road, the wild unfolding. Magical will makes a way where there is no way. Magical will doesn’t make sense while acting upon it. It’s a continual stepping into the dark to weave a path of light. I first heard the term “magical intuition” in Catherine MacCoun’s book, On Becoming an Alchemist: A Guide for the Modern Magician.
the Philosopher’s Stone
This definition can get complicated, so if you want to simplify it, think of the Philosopher’s Stone as your unique and unbreakable core essence within. It’s always been there. No one but you has ever been in possession of it, but it can take a lot of alchemy to clear the path to have an abiding connection with it and to navigate from that place. In more esoteric terms, the Philosopher’s Stone is the non-physical substance or the “One Thing” needed to turn base metal into gold, to transmute a painful thing into a beautiful thing. Through the Great Work, we create (or, rather, uncover) our own versions of the Philosopher’s Stone—the unique touchstone or magical essence within that can transform any situation or thing in our lives. No one can bestow the stone upon you; the stone is you. No two stones are alike since no two people are alike. It is your unique essence that makes magic with the essence of life. (See also the Lesser Stone and the Greater Stone.)
prima materia
The first matter or the starting matter, which can be found in all things and is needed to create magic and form the Philosopher’s Stone within.
radiation
A term for the seventh stage in the alchemical pattern (along with coagulation) in which the alchemist has surrendered all attachment to material and spiritual identifications and offered up their entire being for the use of sacred magic, radiating all energy outwardly and, as a result, feels devoid of satisfaction in ways the ego and personality parts formerly felt satisfied.
Rainbow Gathering
An annual gathering of individuals upholding shared values of unity, peace, freedom, and respect. Focused on creating an experience and culture free of hierarchal authority, consumerism, and mass media, the gathering takes place in different forests across the United States as well as other places around the world.
Rapid Cycle Alchemy
After journeying through the seven stages to uncover the Philosopher’s Stone, we take on a type of maintenance program to keep our inner pathway to the stone clear. Alchemy doesn’t stop after going through the seven stages of transformation; it just happens at a quicker pace. Our ability to metabolize our emotions surrounding the traumatic, painful, and beautiful experiences of life increases. We can experience any or all of the alchemical stages from fire to gold within a day, an hour, or even a minute, and sometimes without thought.
sacred magic
The magic that can’t be said or named. The magic that goes beyond what we can create with our conscious thoughts and efforts. The magic of the soul and spirit working together, made possible by transmuting and surrendering everything that keeps us from aligning with the greater truth wanting to be born through us.
the second half of the mountain
The journey after spiritual awakening or the first marriage of soul and spirit at stage four (conjunction) of the alchemical pattern. The second half of the mountain journey includes the dark nights of the soul, the dark nights of the spirit, and distillation that result in coagulation and radiation.
separation
The third stage in the alchemical pattern in which air is brought to the water-logged ashes of calcination and dissolution, giving the alchemist space and time to identify his or her true essence within.
the Second Journey
The journey up the second half the mountain after awakening at conjunction to form the Greater Stone within.
the Secret Fire
Fire not of the earth, but of the soul. The invisible fire that burns within and cleanses the dross from the psyche during fermentation and the dark nights, making way for True Imagination.
soul
A word I can’t stop trying to define and can never define. Goodness, I love to play with this one. An understanding of how the soul works is largely missing in Western culture. The soul is the part of the eternal self represented by feminine, lunar, and unconscious energies. In the context of alchemy, soul is an inseparable part of the One Thing or the matter of the universe, which means it's an inseparable part of nature and the physical human body. As such, the soul dwells effortlessly in the gravity of the Below and holds blueprints, memories, wounds, and stories from its entire existence. The soul is also the unconscious will that, when aligned, provides the driving force or passion to carry out conscious intent.
soulversation
An approach to conversation in the relational space where two humans transcend hierarchal configurations (such as healer/client) and meet on a level playing field, committed to an equal exchange of energy and vulnerability, undergoing transformation in real-time by being human AF together while exploring the infinite. This is my favorite transformational and healing space. My most treasured form of loving. Can I get some more of this magic? Please and thank you.
spirit
The active part of the eternal self represented by masculine, solar, and conscious energies. As part of the One Mind of the universe, spirit is boundless and moves freely through the light realms of the Above. The spirit strives for perfection, feeds on ideals, goals, and limitless imagination, but needs the roots, depths, and groundedness of the soul to manifest through matter.
Spirit’s Little Bitch
What you might feel like when going through the processes of the dark nights and distillation, unable to do anything you want to do in the physical world because it seems to be all about what everything the divine or spirit realms want of you.
spiritual bypass
A term coined by psychologist John Welwood in the 1980s and popularized in recent years by author Jeff Brown and other spiritual workers to explain the tendency to jump to spiritual conclusions, identify solely with our spiritual selves, or use spirituality as a crutch at the expense of doing the inner work that awaits us through physical reality.
Spiritual Margaritaville
(RIP Jimmy Buffett) A term I coined to describe the base camp of love and light encountered halfway up the mountain upon spiritual awakening. You can read more about this on page one of my first book, The Second Half of the Mountain: A Guide to Personal Alchemy after Awakening.
stone
(See Philosopher’s Stone)
stone wielding
Living, creating, and navigating from the unbreakable core. This is alchemy in action. After we’ve been initiated by the higher operations of alchemy, we come into clear and abiding contact with our unique essence—the Philosopher’s Stone—the inner substance needed to make magic with our unique, subjective, and unrepeatable experiences.
the subtle body
A nonphysical or energetic body of our being that radiates from and through our physical being. The subtle body perceives beyond the five senses, which connects us to information from the timeless and essential parts of ourselves and helps us align the physical and nonphysical aspects of our being.
the Take Your Time paradigm
Creating, healing, and growing at the pace of your soul and the nature within you instead of the pace of culture.
transmute
The soul-baring process of taking what is harmful within and turning it into something helpful, painful to peaceful, and ordinary to extraordinary.
the transpersonal self
The self that exists beyond your personal story in this lifetime.
True Imagination
The imagination not of the thinking or fantasizing mind, but of the subtle body—pure unsolicited images, dreams, ideas—dawning through the fermentation process and carried forth for the wielding of the stone.
the Vertical Axis
The continuum of energy accessed within containing the realms of the unseen. The spirit naturally resides in the upper realms of the vertical axis and the soul in the lower. The human heart meets in the middle where it also engages in horizontal life in the 3D plane. We can travel and explore the vertical axis through expanded or altered states of awareness, but with dedicated focus and practice, access to the vertical becomes a permanent state and merges with everyday life in the heart of the coagulated human.
will
In alchemy, will is associated with the soul and is the driving force behind creative, healing, and transformational endeavors. The conscious mind can hold an intention or a plan, but the will of the soul has to be on board to carry it out. Will is the magical and elusive power behind manifestation. Alchemical procedures continually aim at aligning will (unconscious) and intent (conscious).