The Stages of the Alchemical Opus
Digital Jung Season 3, Episode 10
In the quote from Jung that I use to open this episode, he speaks of the “The profound darkness that shrouds the alchemical procedure.”1 Without question, this “profound darkness” is a prominent feature of so much of the alchemical literature and its symbolism. Indeed, discovering some order in this thicket of ideas, images, and chemical fantasies mirrors in many ways, the opus itself.
This is the subject I take on in this third episode of my four-part series on the symbolism of alchemy: the opus — the great work. In particular, I offer a description of the four stages of the opus — the nigredo, the albedo, the citrinitas, and the rubedo.
Given the often bewildering language of alchemy, it is hard to find a straightforward description of these four stages. And Jung, as I note in the episode, is not always helpful in this task.
All of this is probably quite appropriate, frankly, since it is confusion and darkness that dominate the beginning of the work. Throughout this series, it is the alchemical symbolism itself that has been the prima materia with which I have been working.
As I say in the episode:
“The first goal of the work is to gain some clarity within the confusion, to start to bring some order to the chaos, some light to the darkness. This is the work of the albedo stage.”
One of the operations that was considered central to the task of bringing order was called by the alchemists the separatio. Often this referred to the process of subjecting unrefined ore to some procedure in order to extract the precious metal that was mixed in with the rock and other extraneous substances. Psychologically, this corresponds to the search for meaning within one’s life experiences.
Edward Edinger, in his book Anatomy of the Psyche, puts it this way: “The elemental separatio that ushers in conscious existence is the separation of subject from object, the I from the not-I.”2 In other words, it involves a recognition of those aspects of our experience that are unconscious and are therefore lived out in an unreflective, automatic, and often compulsive way.
Edinger quotes the alchemical saying, “Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the dense.” Translated into psychological terms, he explains, this points to the hard work of “the separation of the concrete, literal aspects of an experience from … its inner symbolic meaning.”
This initial separation of elements, which is the achievement of a reflective attitude, is crucial of course, but it is, as I describe in the episode, only the beginning of the work. In the cryptic language of alchemy: “the triangle must be changed into a circle.”
To find out just what that means, you’ll have to tune into the latest episode. I hope you enjoy this newest offering from Digital Jung. Please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you.
You can find this episode wherever you listen to your podcasts or simply by clicking this link: The Stages of the Alchemical Opus
Thanks for listening, and take good care!
Remainders
This week’s “leftover” quote comes from Jung. In it he describes the imagery of the stages of the opus in terms of the psychological work of the encounter with the unconscious and the integration of its contents into conscious life:
“The situation is now gradually illuminated as is a dark night by the rising moon. The illumination comes to a certain extent from the unconscious, since it is mainly dreams that put us on the track of enlightenment. This dawning light corresponds to the albedo, the moonlight which in the opinion of some alchemists heralds the rising sun. The growing redness (rubedo) which now follows denotes an increase of warmth and light coming from the sun, consciousness.”3
Upcoming Events
I’m looking forward to what promises to be a busy spring! I hope you’ll join me at one of the following events:
The Symbol of the Grail: Parzival and the Path of Individuation
Jung Archademy, starting on Monday, March 6th, 2023. For more details visit: jungarchademy.com/parzival
The Finer Forge: Inner Work and the Alchemical Imagination
Jung Society of Washington, Friday, March 17th, 2023. For more details visit: www.jung.org
The Fires of Transformation: Life as a Work of Art
Jung Society of Washington, Saturday, March 18th, 2023. For more details visit: www.jung.org
Religious but Not Religious
Maine Jung Center, Friday, March 24th, 2023. For more details visit: Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.
Deep Listening: Developing Symbolic Sensitivity
Maine Jung Center, Saturday, March 25th, 2023. For more details visit: Deep Listening: Developing Symbolic Sensitivity.
Psychology and Alchemy, CW12 by C.G. Jung
Anatomy of the Psyche by Edward Edinger
Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW14 by C.G. Jung