Alchemy, Gemini, and Pluto
Distillation fuses the practical and the philosophical. It's been used by the alchemist trying to uncover the mysteries of existence, by the doctor attempting to find medicines, the perfumer creating scents for the master and mistress, and expertly by the producers of alcohol. Alchemy's founder was Egyptian god, Toth -- in Greek mythology, Hermes (Mercury). They are symbols of mystical knowledge and transformation (Pluto). Hermes's staff could turn base material into gold, and both gods could turn death into life.
The most common image of an alchemist is of some bearded madman lurking in a laboratory trying to make gold. That's a misunderstanding. The alchemist attempts to make sense of the world by, among other things, working with the elements to transform matter, strip away the extraneous, and capture the entities' pure essence. They try to comprehend the mysteries of the world by making the substance of life visible in their intense work with distillation of spirits.
Dave Broom
It has definitely caught on.So this is a golden opportunity as Mars in Gemini completes the opposition to Pluto, but most of all, each person's Gemini and Virgo houses and the position of Mercury in the chart contain tools for personal transformation, as one "fuses the practical with the philosophical" ongoing. All things Gemini? Or Virgo? Both ruled by Hermes. I originally thought Virgo was the alchemist with her practical nature and understanding of earthy substance. But Gemini must be too, as he brings the philosophical down for personal use. I'm going to watch both my houses.
posted by jm at 3:18 AM
38 Comments:
"I'm going to watch both my houses."
It's not true that if you watch them they'll never boil.
Hey!!!!
It's late! I mean early!
It's not true that if you watch them they'll never boil.
This will require some study to prove definitively. And I think a slow simmer is preferable to a boil, if I get good results.
My day's beginning here on the East coast. :-) Rise and shine, alchemical gold! Carpe diem! Seize the boiled fish of the day! LOL
I've had my little dream of the night, something about picking up on the protocols of an alien culture and navigating through its system. Or maybe it was checking to see that my name and my mother's were in the guest list database, and reviewing that the opening night's menu in the museum restaurant would be satisfactory.
"And I think a slow simmer is preferable to a boil, if I get good results."
Ah! Perhaps flame control is key. Hmm, I think I'll go look for protective goggles.
HA HA!!!! Goggles!
Bright and early in the rosy red crisp delicious Apple!
reviewing that the opening night's menu in the museum restaurant would be satisfactory.
Not entirely certain I would give that job to someone who forgets to eat.
Mmm, the scent of apple! Must follow the nose.
...Okay, here we go. Have an apple danish.
:-)
And there's an extra pair of googles if you like. Costuming is sooo nice to set the mood.
"Not entirely certain I would give that job to someone who forgets to eat."
Heheh! Hunger pangs are optional when hot on the trail of the elusive quarry.
All I really needed to do was ensure that there's a good variety of choices and alternatives on the menu, and that the dining spaces were civilized but not too imposing.
Lots of people on the escalator to the restaurant, but the wait wasn't long at all.
Geez Kad...i was dreaming that i was a guide (in some subterranean environment?) asking important guests what kind of dining they preferred then ushering them to the appropriate restaurant along very clever ramps. No elevators.
Was it the figs i ate before bed?
BTW jm, i'm curios about the last minute before the hour. 10:59, 11.59 etc beautiful hands...
"...then ushering them to the appropriate restaurant along very clever ramps. No elevators.
"Was it the figs i ate before bed?"
Isn't it funny how that happens? People just don't realize how much dreams dovetail. I believe we pick up on things and translate them into personal imagery. You saw clever ramps, I saw escalators.
Yes, I do remember feeling that there seemed to be separate areas depending on dining preferences. I visualized them as connected rooms in one big circular or semicircular restaurant.
Don't think it was the figs. :-)
OMG definitely circular!
Oh yes? Circular?
Hmm, the Moon's conjunct Pluto today. Maybe something to do with it.
I knew it!!!!
I knew you'd see the hands, tseka. You never fail to inspire me with your visual perception. Amazing.
What would you like to know? I have some thoughts percolating and they will need lining up and solutions.
I do remember feeling that there seemed to be separate areas depending on dining preferences. I visualized them as connected rooms in one big circular or semicircular restaurant
Hmmmm.
Ohh I read this lovely book about alchemy "The philosophers secret fire" Talks oodles about the real and the otherworldly where everything is fluid. Made sense that since alchemy is about playing with energy and matter, that Hermes be involved, being that he is also involved with criss-crossing between worlds and boundaries.
Made sense that since alchemy is about playing with energy and matter, that Hermes be involved, being that he is also involved with criss-crossing between worlds and boundaries.
So true, elena. He's the guardian of the crossroads. And the only god allowed into the underworld and back.
Mercury, and Geminis/Virgos, have been highly underestimated in my view. Mercury is the maker of connections and in order to do that, he has to cross all boundaries. Sometimes I think they hide their vast knowledge for good reason. So they can pass though worlds unobstructed and move about easily, unentangled. In fact, I sometimes think Gemini is even more detached and independent than Aquarius. People think Geminis are superficial? Think again.
Oh! The "last minute before the hour"?
It just came quickly. 59 crops up often in my experience, so it's a good question. Sometimes I go to 60, sometimes stay at 59.
Interesting. Maybe my love of potential energy. Not getting there, but almost. My love of the 29th degree. The coiled spring, the wrist rocket about to go off. The delicious tight state of high tension. 59 Reasons for the Blues. Very good question.
Death or the Underworld is where hidden wealth - gold - Pluto lies, no? A toast to the lord of the darkly-shining riches. And the psychopomp who gets you there, of course.
PS. Who's to say Eurydice wasn't better off below? :D
Yup. It's all there under the world. Do we have to die to get it fully? I have a sneaky suspicion there is a reward waiting at the end of our lives. The experience itself, I think sometimes, is the one we are seeking. The complete ecstasy of letting go. We try so hard all our lives to achieve this but it's impossible. I can't imagine not being a unique relief at the real end.
I have a sneaky suspicion there is a reward waiting at the end of our lives.
I had an experience of this type once. I won't go into how it came about. :-)
I remember during the experience wandering around campfire to campfire and seeing the people chatting, playing guitars and enjoying the summer evening air meanwhile I was aware that I was dead, but they thought I was alive. I wandered alone out into the woods. There were strobe lights going off everywhere and columns made out of light. Eventually I realized the strobes were fireflies and the columns were made of moonlight. I passed thru a door out into the stars and everyone who needed to be there was there. Everything I ever did on Earth was OK, it's just that the only thing that remained was the work I'd done which helped bring this place to what it is made to be becoming, and the experiences of closeness and love remained sort of as multi-colored crystalline forms of some sort. Everyone seemed congratulatory... nice work on that place, now it's on to the next thing. It was blissful and I remember feeling no fear whatsoever.
I wish I could convey the feeling of wandering into the woods that night. The columns of light, the strobing lights, like something out of Tolkien's LothLorien. The transformation of them into moonlight and fireflies no less miraculous, as if the first perception was part of their true forms. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my entire life. I'll never forget it.
Mpk. I am astonished at the way you convey feelings. I'm so glad you appeared and came back from the netherworlds to speak to me.
All the light. The light.
Everyone seemed congratulatory...
I've seen this with inspired people. the welcoming.
You were talking about conflict and I think this is often one result. It is for me. It sends me back deeper into myself.
Yours is entirely different from the descriptions I've heard of these experiences. They parrot one another and I don't trust the veracity. Silver cords, white light, celestial music, etc.
This is fantastic.
When I looked death in the eye (I was alone in the room with the dying man) I saw a look in his eyes that I will never never forget. He was looking up to the left, eyes wide wide open with a luminosity I never saw in his life and an awe I can't describe. I will always wonder what he saw.
He was not a religious man in the traditional sense, trying to escape a strict Baptist upbringing, but before he died, he said, "This is between Me, God, and Life". He died that night with that awakening I saw in his face.
I drew the King of Wands at the moment of death, which is associated with King Theseus by Liz Greene. Oddly enough, Theseus was one of the very very few mortals who went into the underworld and returned.
I can't stop reading your comment, mpk. It's so beautiful.
Thank you, life.
This whole thing just opened up for me on the Alchemical level. I understand it:
multi-colored crystalline forms of some sort.
I can't even begin to describe what these are adequately in words. I've tried to write about it several times, the descriptions are buried somewhere in boxes of writings from my youth. I'll try some stream of consciousness...
Our lives are the Alchemical crucible, the pure substance released after we exit. What I saw in my vision is that these multi colored, utterly unique to each life crystalline forms are what remains when the dross information, heavy biographical info of life is cast away. I scratched down some lines on the train to try to convey the sense of it:
-like crystalline snowflakes patterned on a window
-like Aurora Borealis
-divine etchings
-the artwork of incarnation
-the most essential form of life -it's like what remains inside after the shattered mold of the dross of life is discarded
-it is the artwork of the divine
-the alchemical philosopher's stone
Back to that forest. ... solid columns of light becoming moonlight, like the platonic form of the columns of greek temples, somehow the solidity of light...
-the strobing fireflies fading to soft phosphorescence against the backdrop of the stars until each firefly becomes a star... then the door opens, the forest is gone, the stars are all around...
multi-colored crystalline forms of some sort.
That caught my attention too.
I saw in my vision is that these multi colored, utterly unique to each life crystalline forms are what remains when the dross information, heavy biographical info of life is cast away.
What purpose does the heavy biographical serve? And what does it look like, do you think?
I did a piece on the forest awhile back and I'm going to look for it. The inner world, both protective and full of hidden entities, dangers. It's interesting about the forest disappearing. Could the forest be part of the biographical? Our lives rooted in the trees.
I love fireflies. they have a special symbolism for me but I don't know what it is. I hadn't even though of stars as obvious as it is. There is something electrical about them that makes me ecstatic, being such a devotee of electricity. It's almost as if they are lighting up and leading the way to an alternative dimension. Just reading this has opened it for me.
I can't even begin to describe what these are adequately in words.
You do so well, mpk. Better than you probably realize.
Back to that forest. ... solid columns of light becoming moonlight, like the platonic form of the columns of greek temples, somehow the solidity of light...
There is something spectacular about these columns in our consciousness. "solidity of light" is a good phrase and I haven't heard this before. I think of Greek drama, all the elevation of human tragedy going on outside, under the moonlight around these pillars. Thespians, which comes form "Theos"...God. Actors being the translators of divine connection.
What beautiful images tonight. It's also a gorgeous calm night in my town. Very quiet and soft.
What purpose does the heavy biographical serve? And what does it look like, do you think?
It's matrix in which the ore is suspended. I'm thinking of a place I used to visit when I was growing up, an old iron ore furnace, shut down probably 100 years ago. There's lots of slag strewn about in the woods and a nearby stream. I loved finding the pieces of slag as a kid because they were blue rocks, some of it polished in intriguing ways. Usually, I'd see the blue rocks shining underneath the water, pick them up and continue looking to find the most beautiful ones I could find.
So this makes me think, -if I'm not stretching too much to connect the images I contain, that the alchemical process even transforms the "heavy biographical" into something beautiful after the process is complete. It gets scattered back into nature, discarded, not valued, but still attractive and intriguing to a child gathering stones...
Those stones had a story for me. Now this reminds me of wandering out in the desert outside Tucson. Voices I could hear in the rocks -old Indians maybe. I thought they were trying to tell me where the Anasazi went to and why they left, but I don't think the Anasazi even lived out there. I think stones can record things, or be the home of essences. This must be an ancient idea and I have not researched it.
So many thoughts now... maybe too many. This made me think of my Mom again... who made these kinds of trips and experiences possible. The bad parts = the good parts and the net result is the freedom to choose a path. I've always been a person who knows the endings and beginnings but not the middle so well. As you've noted JM I have a lot of experience with death. I wrote something when very young I remember now...
I've been to the sunset land and returned again alive. Now I know, but am I wise?
What purpose does the heavy biographical serve? And what does it look like, do you think?
It's matrix in which the ore is suspended.
I love love love this.
I loved finding the pieces of slag as a kid because they were blue rocks, some of it polished in intriguing ways.
It's so true. The beauty of metals as they age and the mix of chemicals in life.
alchemical process even transforms the "heavy biographical" into something beautiful after the process is complete. It gets scattered back into nature, discarded, not valued, but still attractive and intriguing to a child gathering stones...
Yes. Gorgeous paragraph. I see this in my memories of the dead in my life.
I think stones can record things, or be the home of essences.
I think all solid matter does. I get this from the walls, floors, and ceilings of the homes I live in. Everything witnesses everything and the solid captures and keeps it, stored in memory for our perception when we open up. We absorb it anyway. The past is present. What's remembered is what is essential as you so eloquently point out.
This made me think of my Mom again... who made these kinds of trips and experiences possible. The bad parts = the good parts and the net result is the freedom to choose a path.
I was just thinking about this, mpk, in terms of your Moon-Jupiter conjunction which has a lot of good from the mother experience. Good fortune through the mother. I have it too, and I didn't get along with her in life. Now I do in death. She helped me tremendously. She allowed me to hate her. That's wisdom. Amazing stories there. For later, maybe during the Mars in Cancer retrograde.
I've been to the sunset land and returned again alive. Now I know, but am I wise?
Yes. Uncommonly.
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