PlanetShifter Interview

Interviewer: Willi Paul, Executive Producer: PlanetShifter.com
Magazine: Green Catcher Union

The principle goal of alchemy is transformation via manifestation of intention, and the chance that materialization will actually occur is directly proportional to the quality of expression. Please put this into laymans terms!

 The alchemists consider consciousness a force of nature that is an essential ingredient in their experiments. By projecting a pure and focused intent the alchemists believed that the outcome of their experiments could be altered. Thus the "quality of expression" depends on the purity and focus of the alchemist's consciousness. It is an idea that is currently recognized by modern physics as the so-called "observer effect" in quantum physics and other emerging ideas on the mind of nature.

Your "Alchemergy" movement seeks to take change out of the hands of politicians and back into the control of an enlightened populace. Is there a political component to the transformational power of alchemy? How can alchemists reach a wider audience?

 There has always been a political or social component to alchemy. In fact, our founding fathers were very familiar with alchemical principles and openly tried to apply them to the new democracy, and there was much debate about how far they should go. Benjamin Franklin and the great French philosopher Rousseau even wrote a constitution for America based on the Emerald Tablet. Alchemy is about the universal methods of transformation and perfection and apply to all aspects of human activity.

Can television serve as a source of alchemic training or transformation?

Absolutely. I have worked with teams from television and film production companies as a consultant on how to connect the archetypal power of alchemical principles to screenwriting. Most of the applications are subtle and do not mention alchemy, but producers and directors are familiar with Jung's perspectives on the power of alchemy in people's unconscious and that is the level at which they want to connect with audiences. On the other hand, there are some shows that openly use genuine alchemy principles, such as (surprisingly) the anime series "Full Metal Alchemist" or films like the "Harry Potter" series.

Is alchemy taught in US public schools now? How should it be taught?

Although a few Rudolph Steiner schools do teach alchemy, it is generally taught privately by alchemists. There is a correspondence program covering both practical and spiritual alchemy offered by the Alchemy Guild at www.AlchemyHomeStudy.com .

Did the American Native Indian use alchemy?

 Surprisingly, yes. It is a kind of instinctive recognition of alchemical truths that uses there own terminology, and in general, their kind of alchemy is spiritual based and does not focus on the metals. Many tribes, including the Sioux, Hopi. and Apache have their own terms for First Matter, the four elements, the Quintessence, etc. Also, the mythic qualities ascribed to animals are almost always in line with alchemical symbology.

What is the major difference between Christianity, Witch Craft and Alchemy?

Alchemy and witchcraft are close cousins on different paths. Both pay close attention to nature, herbs, planetary energies, the elements, etc. Some see witchcraft as the feminine approach and alchemy as the masculine approach to the same tradition. The history of alchemy and Christianity is closely interwined, and historians have shown that the roots of their common philosophy go back to Egypt. The Church of the Middle Ages was very wary of alchemy competing for the hearts and soul of mankind and persecuted many alchemists for voicing such beliefs as a person could contact God in the privacy of their own prayer and meditation at home. There is a whole tradition of Christian Alchemy based on the idea of Christ as Lapis (Philosopher's Stone) that is part of the mystical Christian tradition and can be seen in the writings of alchemists like Jacob Boehme and organizations like the Rosicrucians. 

How do science and alchemy intersect, clash or support each other these days?

 The cutting edge of science, especially quantum physics  and astrophysics, actually complement the alchemical view of nature very well. Psychology pays homage to alchemy on many different levels, and many psychologists actually recognize alchemical operations as effective tools in therapy. Chemistry is actually the worst fit to alchemy, as it arose out of a late tradition in alchemy known as the "puffers", so called because they work primarily with high heat and spent hours frantically pushing bellows trying reach high temperature. Their approach was materialistic and they work purely physical, and they were interested only in making gold for wealth. Kind of like some modern chemists seeking to create the next golden drug at pharmaceutical companies. 

How would you ignite the power of the Golden Chain of Homer in an Oakland, CA ghetto neighborhood?

 Ha! Great question. I would go there and give the best lectures and workshops on alchemy I could possibly present. I would make sure every word connected with the audience at their level and exposed the alchemical truths in their lives and how transformation is possible only if it begins with one person. As the alchemists said, it takes a seed of gold to make gold. The Golden Chain of Homer (written by alchemist Anton Josef Kirchweger in 1728) talks about the outer fire that ignites the inner fire, and in the lab is demonstrated by the ignition of phosphorous or sometimes magnesium, but at its essence this universal fire is invisible. It is the grosser crackling temporary fire that ignites the purer most brilliant and focused inextinguishable flame. In people, it is the words of inspiration and truth that ring true in them and ignite an intense burning/yearning for truth that burns away all the dross and lies in their lives and makes them passionately true to their own inner essences.

How can the use of alchemy create a sustainable environment locally and globally?

 The alchemists called themselves philosophers of fire, which was their code word for pure energy. In their work, they attempted to free the deepest energetic essences of things and purify them to the level at which they became empowered, embodies, and perfected. Inefficiency and waster were the dark forces in their experiments that they sought to separate out to bring their processes to new levels of full expression. This is the idealized view of any environmentalist - to create the purest energy with the least waste. The alchemist's ouroboros symbol (serpent or dragon eating its own tail in a circle of endless transformation) was how they expressed this idea of the eternal recycling of the whole universe. From their love of nature, I think the ancient alchemists would be at the forefront of environment efforts both locally and globally. They gave us the whole secret to a sustainable environment in their universal operations of how to transform one thing into another.


What is the next stage of human consciousness  on Earth? And how do the masses get this lift?

The word "Alchemergy" also carries the sense of emergency that represents our current perilous human situation in a world built on materialism and greed, pride and revenge, fear and falsity. Finally, Alchemergy is about the emergence of a new kind of human being through personal alchemy and the willed mutation of our species.


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Event Circle www_planetshifter_com.mht