May is about Alchemy!

In 1926 a man had a dream about exploring mysterious rooms in his house that he’d not seen before. He discovered a library with “large, fat folio volumes” bound in pigskin and filled with strange symbols and ciphers that he couldn’t read. This dream changed my life by arousing my interest and research into the Royal Art. The man, of course, was C. G. Jung and this seminal dream launched his thirty-year exploration into alchemy. The change in direction from his earlier research was so radical that his long time associate, Toni Wolf, essentially quit; Marie Louise von Franz would take up the mission that last the rest of Jung's life.

Interested in alchemical psychology, magic, alchemical dreams, transmutation, ancient Egypt...come join us in this month's May Book Club!!

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  • To kick off our May book club, here is a very brief synopsis of the Osiris myth and some pertinent details concerning his iconography, mythology and history:

     

    Osiris was the first born to Nut and Geb, goddess of the sky and god of earth, respectively. He married his sister Isis and together had a son, Horus. Osiris is a vegetation god who taught people how to farm their lands while Isis instructed them in the methods of cooking their food. These lessons marked a major transition in Egyptian society, bringing civilization, law and order. 

     

    According to different interpretations Osiris was either seduced or was seduced by his brother’s wife, Nephythys. They produced a son named Anubis. This set the stage for great enmity between Osiris and his brother, Seth. To get his revenge, Seth murdered Osiris and later dismembered him.

     

    Isis, Osiris’ wife, retrieved her husband’s body, and following his dismemberment, reconstituted his body parts through her powerful use of magic. He was briefly reanimated long enough for them to copulate and produce an heir to the throne. Seth challenged the succession and a prolonged bloody conflict ensued between him and Horus. In the end, with the intervention of Osiris and other gods, Horus was pronounced the rightful heir to his father’s throne. Osiris “resurrected” into the Underworld where he oversees the Judgment of the Dead.

     

    Osiris is typically shown in mummy bandages with his skin color being green or black; sometimes an erect phallus protrudes from beneath his bandages. His arms are classically crossed over his chest and he holds the crook and flail, symbols of his mastery over lower instincts. Atop his head he wears the Atef crown that signifies his kingship of Upper Egypt; other times he bears the pschent crown that represents power over both Upper and Lower Egypt.  There are only fragments of his myth from the Book of the Dead. Plutarch, the first century Greek historian, formed the narrative we have come to know as the Osiris myth.

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    Osiris is sometimes symbolized in the form of a pillar known as the djed. The image is commonly associated with Osiris’ backbone both literally and figuratively. His association with barley and especially with the Nile envisions him as the backbone of Egypt. Osiris, being the only Egyptian deity who dies, draws him closer to the human realm and in that he rises from the dead suggests themes of rebirth, resurrection and regeneration.

    In the next few days I will post our first discussion question. This will allow you to obtain Embodying Osiris, begin reading it and allow the myth to embody you! Meanwhile, don't be shy about posting your comments and questions!

  • Count me in Thom! In early March this year, not long before my 41st birthday, I had a 'house' dream. The first of it's kind in my life. The dream began with my looking at it from the outside, on a warm, sunny day. The house looked large and grand, with towers set at each of it's four corners. I entered through the great hall, ignoring the sweeping stairs leading upstairs, and headed down a broad, marble-lined, well-lit stair-case. I reach a square door, which seemed to be made of a curious mix of dense rock and metal. On the door was inscribed a square, with a perfectively symmetrical circle and equilateral triangle set at the centre. I touch my hand to the rock-metal...the door slid open. End of dream.

    An invitation...

    • Welcome Richard. What a wonderful dream! Although it is not my intention to do dream analysis as part of the book club I can't but keep myself from offering these unasked for observations and amplifications: that this dream should occur during the beginning of your mid life transition is significant in that this is a mandala dream - one that reflects not only your whole life but glimpses of the Self. Descending rather than ascending leads toward the unconscious in lieu of more spiritual pursuits. The emphasis on the square points to the alchemical operation known as "squaring the circle"  a procedure that is meant to "obtain unity in the material world (as well as in the spiritual life)..." (Cirlot) That the square opens is a very optimistic sign - manifestation is of course always the work to be done in realizing the dream. On my AlchemicaPsychology website I further describe this operation that is so beautifully illustrated in Michael Maier's Atlanta Fugiens:

      "As with other alchemical images, this etching was believed to possess all that is needed to transform lead into gold. A caption above the picture proclaims, "Here followeth the Figure conteyning all the secrets of the Treatise both great & small." The image echoes a recipe from the Rosarium, "Make a circle out of a man and woman, derive from it a square, and from the square a triangle: make a circle and you will have the philosopher's stone." The circle containing the male and female figures is the microcosm and the larger outer circle represents the macrocosm. Note how the alchemist connects the concentric circles with a sexton. Circles are considered feminine in nature because they act to contain matter, much in the same way a womb acts to hold within itself the embryo. The square represents a masculine aspect and signifies earth with each of the four elements.

      Finally, the triangle symbolizes fire and acts to connect and integrate the above with the below. In the same way it signifies body, soul and spirit. Male and female energies are fused into a complementary wholeness that forms the basis for effective functioning in reality (the square). Extending outward from this inner psychic structure, human consciousness is brought into a divine relationship with the cosmos (the large, outer circle). Thus, there is inner and outer harmony within oneself, with the opposite sex and with the universe."

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