Inner Gold - Alchemy and Psychology

Alchemy occupies a unique place in the collective psyche of humankind. Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Jung discovered alchemy and devoted the remaining 30 years of his life to studying it, which he practically dug up from the dunghill of the past, for it was considered pseudoscience, a forgotten relic of history and despised field of investigation which he had suddenly revived.

Alchemy allows one to achieve wholeness through a reconnection with the unconscious. For Jung, the task of alchemy was and has always been psychological. The end product is not material in nature, but rather spiritual. Alchemy is the art of expanding consciousness, of self-realisation.

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📚 Recommended Reading

▶ Jung and the Alchemical Imagination – Jeffrey Raff
▶ Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy – Edward Edinger
▶ Alchemy: An Introduction to the Symbolism and the Psychology – Marie-Louise von Franz
▶ Psychology and Alchemy: Collected Works Vol.12 – Carl Jung

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📝 Sources

- Alchemy: An Introduction to the Symbolism and the Psychology – Marie Louise von Franz
- Jung and the Alchemical Imagination – Jeffrey Raff
- Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy – Edward F. Edinger
- Alchemical Active Imagination – Marie Louise von Franz
- C.W. Vol 12: Psychology and Alchemy – Carl Jung
- C.W. Vol 13: Alchemical Studies – Carl Jung
- C.W. Vol 14: Mysterium Coniunctionis – Carl Jung
- The Secret of The Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life – Lü Dongbin. Translated and explained by Richard Wilhelm. With a commentary by C.G. Jung
- Hedesan, J. (2009). The Four Stages of Alchemical Work (Published in Esoteric Coffeehouse)
- Understanding the Meaning of Alchemy: Jung's Metaphor for the Transformative Process - Murray Stein, Ph.D.

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⌛ Timestamps

0:00 Introduction
6:33 The Self: Achieving Wholeness
13:45 The Origins and History of Alchemy
20:20 The Basic Concepts of Alchemy
28:54 Alchemy as Psychological Projection
32:07 The Importance of Symbols
35:50 The Operations of Alchemy
42:52 Stages of Alchemy: Nigredo, Albedo, Rubedo
50:03 Conclusion

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#alchemy #psychology #jung

[Eternalised]

*“Only that which can destroy itself is truly alive.”*


Special thanks to my Patrons:

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[Hdianvciadpei]

“No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.” - Carl Jung

[CalebMonroe-ry]

The idea that alchemy was always about inner transformation, not just turning lead into gold, is incredibly powerful. 'Inner gold' is what we reclaim when we face our darkness and integrate it — true wealth isn’t outside, it’s within.

[thijsmallekote]

You have to experience and reflect onto your darkest sides of life in order to bring more light into it. For me it took 2 near death experiences due to drug abuse to get a clearer view on life and how to control or at least see how my life is influenced by my unconscious psyche. Reality is stranger than fiction. What I saw was a stunning view of a higher dimension which brought me in a state of awareness after reflecting a lot of hours on those accidents. I saw such a beautiful place filled with bright white light, unbelievable beautifull futuristic buildings while also seeing heavenly like nature entangled through the buildings. wich made me think of what I was doing on earth. Talked about this view to my mum wich got her upset but immediately told her Im not planning to end my life, its just that Ive seen what can come after life and it was truly amazing. I cant think of all the pain Id leave people with if Id end my life just because Ive seen something wich might look better then my current state of life. Now im doing better, still struggling with substance abuse but to the point where I can prevent myself from using to push away the reality. Reality is a strange thing we live in. Peace and blessings for your life to whoever is reading this.

[catalinul]

I call it the Inner Sun, and yes, it was glowing with golden light, a sphere of golden light. I've seen it, had my first out of body experience at around 16, I was floating over my physical body sleeping in my room. I could hear my family talking and could see perfectly my room, my body even the Sun shining through the window. Took me some 5-6 years to learn what happened to me that day. I went to sleep and woke up floating towards the ceiling. I had hundreds more out of body experiences throughout time, been meditating for about 3 years or so. Seen so much, experienced so much, one day a free masons came to me asked about my experiences and proposed me to be one of them. I said no, I do not want to be part of any group. All I wanna say here is to push yourself further and further, this is how we evolve, if you stop and say the world is nothing more than I can see, then you limit yourself.

[kangaroocaliphate]

This might be one of the best channels on YouTube.

[E_]

Your timing with these videos is always “on time”, thank you being an agent of reminder for those of us who are starting this journey but are struggling staying “on track”. God bless you.

[ReynaSingh]

Life is composed of dualities and it is within the individual that they’re unified

[SpiritNurse]

The amount of work you put into these videos reminds me to apply the same amount of work to myself. We seem to be within a sort of ‘veil of forgetfulness’, spending hours on topics only to forget it not long after. These videos help to refresh that ‘lead’ memory. Thanks, friend.

[Kormac]

As a lifelong reader and seeker I have the utmost respect and gratitude for your work.

[lulka]

Unbelievable work you are doing, taking Jung's greatest concepts and writings and integrating them into this video. You and your videos have assisted me in my alchemical journey.

[WeAreAllOneNature]

Excellent!
21:23 ''Alchemy is the art of expanding consciousness - of Self-realisation.''
50:02 ''Alchemy is a process of spiritual death and rebirth.''

[liselottedegeyter]

it's like you've made a line up from the dreams I had in the past 2 years. Thx a million for all the effort, time and wisdom you put into your videos. You truly transformed this heavy content into pure gold!

[cynthiacrooks-garcia]

I’ve been studying around this spiral of consciousness and death since childhood. Coming here I hardly have to listen as the familiar concepts and language, are stacked and layered in such a way as to clear up the areas I always found so blurry. I can listen again and again and keep finding new neural connections. Yum.

[RobynKLaczy]

"Ideas have people." I think soon people will have new ideas again. This was a complete joy to watch and engage in. Jung is finally getting the cred he always deserved, and I think it is time to progress, build on, and move on from his work. 😊

[ProjekHappyMe]

Thanks for all the many mirrors. I finally started seeing the reflections.

[PresentMoment]

7:20 Our task is to recover our original unity we had as a child, to become like a child again.
9:25 wholness is achieved only with constant inner work
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[tahuti]

That was EXCELLENT! I was drawn to Alchemy many years ago. I was in my 20s then. Now in my 72nd year I remain fascinated with it and learning more about the stage I am experiencing now. In HS one of my friends came to school with a copy of MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS. We would take turns sneak- reading it during our classes! 😅

[AlexBerardo]

How strange this video was published as I am currently struggling to get through the secret of the golden flower. It is the first book I have every taken serious notes on, in an attempt to connect the metaphors to concepts I can internalize. I said to myself yesterday literally the phrase, I wish I could find a high quality video explaining these concepts less cryptically...

Synchronicity or not, this video helped me a lot in understanding internal alchemy. I will need to watch it many more times. I wish one day to be as versed on these topics as you.

Thanks for your work.

[shigo]

I've been looking deeply into Jung for a couple of years now. I absolutely respect and applaud you for this video as it's not a popular topic, nor is it ever explained eloquently 💯🙏