I n t r o d u c t i o n
This site has been created to house my artwork and small verses on alchemical themes. I call it meditations because I'm consciously inspired by the notion of alchemy as being about inner psychological processes, as more fully described by Carl Jung.
|
nigredo1
nigredo2
|
Two connected series of four small pictures. The alchemical nigredo is like a "dark night of the soul" and might resemble a time of depression, feeling lost or bewildered, rejected, betrayed, etc. It is the place where the alchemical treasure must be sought.
|
albedo1
albedo2
|
The albedo or "whitening" was seen by many alchemists as the climax of their work. As Jung put it: "From the darkness of the unconscious comes the light of illumination, the albedo." It is a time of cleansing, purifying, sifting and sorting; a bit like wiping away the muck that prevents clear-sightedness.
|
|
rubedo1
|
The rubedo or "reddening" was the next stage of the alchemical opus and suggests that things are hotting up. As Jung put it: "The growing redness (rubedo) which now follows denotes an increase of warmth and light coming from the sun, consciousness." It is a time of strong emotional reactions and of passionate conflicts.
|
|
florida |
There is no traditional alchemical state called florida: this is my own invention. The Latin meaning of the word is "blossoming, flowery" and this is clearly a more cheerful theme, to contrast with the first.
|
