The processes in alchemy are a projection of processes within the Psyche. There are different ways of systematizing the process of alchemy — there can be four stages, seven stages, twelve stages, etc. The “Nigredo” stage (yesterday’s post) is reached both through “Calcinatio” and “Putrefecatio”:
The phase of Blackening which usually marked the beginning of the work, was brought about either by heating the prima materia in the process of Calcination (the ‘dry way’ of the alchemists), or by the process of Putrefaction, a slow rotting or digestion over a period of weeks or months (the so-called ‘wet way’). The Black Crow or Raven was often associated with this Calcination, for on vigorous heating the calcined material would usually carbonise and layers would flake off and move like a crow’s wings in the flask. The Toad was a better symbol of the Putrefaction, the decaying mass slowly pulsating and shifting as gasses were given off, while the substance rotted down to a black mass. Another symbol of this stage was the dragon, a familiar inhabitant of the alchemists flasks. The dragon is however a more complex symbol and is also used when winged as a symbol for the spiritualising of the earthly substance. Thus to the alchemists the dragon appeared at the beginning and at the end of the work . (Source)
As I reviewed the images I drew after my heart attack, I was very surprised how closely they paralleled alchemical processes. Here is a “Calcinatio” image:
Link to Image
Image of King in the Sweatbox: from Atalanta Fugiens 1618
