All lovers in the world share that sense of specialness—the feeling of wings sprouting as you look into the eyes of your beloved. You believe you can handle anything in the world; you feel wonderful and cherished. The problem is that, sooner or later, we hit the ground, simply because “this kind of love” cannot […]
Calcination
Calcination is the first stage of the alchemical conversion of lead to gold, which works with the element fire. Psychologically, fire symbolizes human passions (our desires and ambitions) and the lead we process are the feelings of frustration when these desires are not satisfied (such as anger, depression, jealousy, envy, vindictiveness, malice...). Central to this stage is the experience of powerlessness from encountering forces that are outside or within us, and which we do not have the power to change. The only thing we can change is ourselves and the way we perceive what happens to us - our thinking.
- Alchemy
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01.12.2013
Impatience as the Anima Trick
One of the challenges in the stage of calcination — the psychological work with the element of fire and our strong passions – is learning to contain frustration when things do not unfold as quickly as we would like. Life in a material body comes with limitations, not only in space, but also in time, […]
The Transformation of Thinking During Calcination For those who are passing through the fire of calcination—the purification of our desiring nature through suffering—there is something else of great importance that needs to be understood. The primary object of transformation at this first stage of spiritual transformation is thinking itself. In other words, at the core […]
This article is a continuation of the previous one on “The Abduction of Persephone,” in which the “abduction,” from the perspective of the ego, appears as a descent into the underworld, but from the perspective of the Spirit is exactly the opposite—a rite of initiation into the depths of the unconscious. It is an encounter […]
12.08.2013
When Passion Seeks Its Own Defeat
Behind falling in love with someone who does not reciprocate our feelings, or who does not give us what we want from them, there is a specific psychic dynamic. Behind the intense emotions of unrequited love stand inner laws of the soul that differ from what appears on the surface. If we understand this, […]
05.07.2012
Burnout from a Spiritual Perspective
Burnout is a form of occupational stress expressed through extreme exhaustion and alienation from work and from people. If at the beginning a person was inspired and burned brightly in their work, now we observe the exact opposite — the flame has gone out, and in place of inspiration there is fatigue, apathy, pessimism, and […]
This is a continuation of the previous post, “Containing by Restraining,” which introduced the work with the fire element in our psyche—passion and desire. Its purpose is to present the perspective of analytical psychology regarding experiences we all know to some degree: abandonment and rejection in love. This allows us to see the meaning of […]
17.11.2011
Containing the Fire of Transformation
What should we do when the emotions of anger are too strong? When neither the appropriate release techniques nor communication skills seem to help us diffuse their explosive energy? There is a third perspective for dealing not only with anger but with all intense emotions. It is called “containing by holding”: “I think the problem, […]
