Sacred space

[Zigzag Idiot]

9 hours ago, tsuki said:

Matter cannot have contradictory qualities, so the Quintessence must be immaterial, pure spirit. The figure shows that no point on the circumference can be simultaneously Hot and Cold or Moist and Dry. If, however, the circle shrinks to the point at the center, it will have all qualities at once. This is where the immaterial Quintessence resides, and it is the goal towards which the rotation is directed. 

Immaterial Quintessence sounds like Essence with with its different qualities. What Almaas refers to as essential aspects

Absorption of all Essential Aspects into the Personal Essence

However, the pearl beyond price feels personal without being the personality. It has the capacity to make a personal contact with another human being and still be free, totally unconditioned, free from the past and its influences. It is the most personally intimate aspect of oneself. Everyone recognizes what it is when he first sees it. Sometimes even the vaguest perception of it brings out the exclamation “but this feels like me, intimately me.” And yet it is not selfish like the personality. The personality is based on deficiency, and this is the source of its selfishness. But the pearl is based on true value and true fullness. In fact, it is itself fullness. All of essential development is ultimately the development of the pearl. All of the essential aspects are for the pearl, for the life, use, enjoyment, and fulfillment of the pearl. That is why in the stories it is represented as a princess of unsurpassable beauty. The joy of the essence is its joy. The love is its love. The pleasure of the essence is for it, the majesty of the essence is its grandeur, the beauty of the essence is it, itself. The whole quest—its meaning, purpose, and completion—can be understood as the realization of the pearl beyond price. Many stories have been written about it.   

Essence with the Elixir of Enlightenment, pg. 162

 

So the capacity to be without this ego sense of self eliminates selectivity in one’s personal experience of essential qualities, opening the consciousness to an unlimited range of qualities. The absence of inner selectivity due to cessation of the feeling of self, coupled with the openness to expansion due to disidentincation from ego inadequacy, allows a new possibility of realization. It makes it possible to complete the process of personalization of Essence, which is the absorption of all essential aspects into the Personal Essence, or the synthesis of all aspects into a personal presence. The essential aspects now constitute the very substance of the Personal Essence. One not only feels one is a full personal presence, but that this very same presence includes the presence of Love, Joy, Strength, Compassion, Merging, Peace, Intelligence, Will, Consciousness, etc. Aspects are simultaneously personalized, with their capacities and functions integrated. This is a condition of  completeness, of an amazing degree of integration. One is full and firm, strong and soft, sweet and warm, and so on. One is a complete person. This does not mean that one’s personal presence from now on is always this complete state. It indicates that one is able to be present in this expanded state of Being. The Personal Essence is an organic and fluid presence; there is no rigidity in it at all. All its states, through the whole process of its realization and development, are available to it now, manifesting according to the situation. Practically, this realization allows the capacity to be personal in any of the essential aspects, or any combination of them, depending on the demands of the situation. The complete state of the Personal Essence brings a perception of one’s presence as preciousness, beauty and regality. It is no wonder that the Personal Essence is called in some stories, the Princess Precious Pearl. 

Pearl Beyond Price, pg. 391

[tsuki]

@Zigzag Idiot Thank you for the quotes.
It does indeed seem like Alchemy is the ancient system of development (potentially self-development) that can be used for enlightenement.
_________
Of course, Leo posts a video that is relevant to my research:

It is an application of Alchemy in terms of time.
The thumbnail represents: Water, Air, Fire, Earth.

Edited May 5, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

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The Salt Sea

The Salt Sea represents Water in an especially important form. This is because brine, like the salt in it, both preserves and corrodes. As Heraclitus said, "Sea is the purest and foulest water: for fish drinkable and saving, but for people undrinkable and destroying."

The Pythagoreans identify the bitter Salt Sea with divine tears, especially the tears of Kronos (like Persephone, a deity of the afterlife), and we have seen that Empedocles identified Water with Persephone's tears, which were said to dissolve grief and thereby bring about rebirth. Salt is associated with wisdom and spirit as well as bitterness, which suggests that the bitter tears of grief and disappointment can be transformed into salty wit and sharp wisdom. Instead of being a source of foul corruption, Salt may be used to preserve that which is worth saving.

Similarly, the Salt Sea from which Aphrodite was born is the source of new life, the salty womb of rebirth. But complementing life-engendering Aphrodite (Venus Genetrix) and Persephone Queen of the Underworld, we also have Aphrodite Upon the Tombs and the revitalizing milk from Persephone's breasts. Generation and dissolution are complementary.

Alchemically, the Sea is the vessel of rebirth because its Salt is the spark of the World Soul (Anima Mundi), the "Vegetable Spirit" (Spiritus Vegetativus). This Spiritual Salt (Sal Spirituale) is a conjunction of the opposites Fire and Water, and will be discussed when we come to Fire, but it is worthwhile to say a few words about it here. On the one hand, Sea Water (Aqua Pontica) is chaotic primordial matter (see below); on the other, it may be purified (by Fire and Water) into Enduring Water (Aqua Permanens), which holds the Salt of Wisdom (Sal Sapientiae) and is the Elixir of Rebirth.

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As was explained in the Introduction, Earth is overcome by Water, and so the result of combining the two is more Watery than Earthy. That is, the Primal Mud is more like chaotic elemental Water: formless (because Moist) and confused (because Cool, and therefore mixing). Nevertheless, the Primal Mud is both Dry and Wet, corresponding to the elements Earth and Water, and so this "Prime Matter," which is the basis of the Great Art, is called the "Dry Water" by the alchemists.

Primal Mud is not sufficient for animate life. Thus Apollodorus (Library 1.7.1) says, "Prometheus molded humans out of Water and Earth and gave them also Fire, which, unknown to Zeus, he had hidden in a stalk of fennel." (The Fire was stolen from the Wheel of the Sun; the narthex or fennel stalk corresponds to Shushumna, the central spinal channel, which conveys the Kundalini force. The narthex also forms the shaft of the Thursos, the wand of Dionysian invocation.) Finally, Athena breathed Psychê (Breath [Air], Soul, Prana) into the body. (See Air for more on this.) Thus we are made from all four Elements.

From this perspective, Water and Earth constitute the "gross body"; Air and Fire provide the astral and radiant bodies, respectively. In Empedocles' terms, Earth and Water are the body (sôma), Air is the soul (psychê), and Fire is source of power (kinêtikê). Alchemically, the body is the Salt, which is joined by the Quicksilver (etheric body: Air) to the Sulfur (radiant body: Fire). So also the Stoics say that the (Cool, synthetic) "feminine" elements Earth and Water constitute Hulê (Matter or Resource), whereas the (Warm, analytic) "masculine" elements Air and Fire constituteLogos (Word or Thought).

Earth and Water are the only tangible (touchable) elements; Fire and Air are intangible. Since Water and Earth are both Cool, their tendency is toward greater mixture; this is the entropy of gross matter. They tend to the cold and dark through the dissolution of form (because the mixture is Watery).

The "igneous spirit" (the Heat residing in both Fire and Air) gives motion to inert matter and makes it active. These Elements tend to warmth and light through the generation of energy. Thus Menstruum, the Living Mud, which combines the Cool feminine elements Earth and Water (represented by pubic triangles), is animated by Semen, which combines the Warm masculine elements Air and Fire (represented by the phallic triangles). Therefore Warmth and Moisture are the two principles of generation, which animate the sterile Earth and bring it to life.

In conclusion, Water is the spiritual principle of flexible union, which permits both dissolution and transformation. Water provides the Primordial Chaos, which combines with Earth to yield the Primal Mud from which life is born. Water is associated with Persephone, the agent of rebirth in the Underworld, who brings the tears of mourning but also the Ambrosia of immortality.

http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/AGEDE/Water.html

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Air as a Mediating Element

A fundamental principle of Greek philosophy and alchemy is that a Conjunction of Opposites requires some mediating factor, a mean to unite the extremes. Air is an important mediating Element because it unites the opposites Fire and Water, the key alchemical process (discussed with Fire). Here I will simply observe that Air can mediate between them because it has Warmth in common with Fire and Moisture in common with Water, so it forms a bridge between them. This mediating role is also central to the process of emanation represented by the Tarot court cards (King, Queen, Knight, Page), and symbolized by IOUE, the name of Jove: Air represents the Union of the Impulse (Fire) with its Object (Water), which leads to the Effect (Earth). (Earth is the other mediating element; the mediating or mixed elements have crossbars in their signs.)

In the Pythagorean tradition, a Harmonia (fusion of parts) is required to join unlike things together, and conversely every Harmonia presupposes an opposition. (In myth, Harmonia is the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, and the Derveni Papyrus, which is an interpretation of Orphic scriptures, explains that Zeus, as Divine Aêr, brought Harmonia into the cosmos.)

Since Air is predominantly Moist, we also need to investigate Moisture as a mediating Power. Moisture is the common Power of Air and Water, and therefore it links them together. However, Air is also connected with Fire, for they are both Warm, and Water is also connected with Earth, for they are both Cool. Therefore, the Moist Radical (embodied in Air and Water) makes an indirect connection between the extremes Fire and Earth. In Platonic terms, the Moist elements unite Form (Fire) and Primary Matter (Earth). Therefore, alchemists call the Moist Radical the Ferment of Nature because it connects extremes of Light and Matter (light & shadow, heaven & earth). Further, Sun, Moon and Earth correspond to Fire, Moisture and Earth, for the Moon is an intermediary, reflecting the light of the Sun to Earth.

We find the same three principles in the cosmogony of Anaximander (6th cent. BCE), who is credited with discovering the opposed Powers, Warm and Cool, Moist and Dry. In the beginning the Unlimited (the Prima Materia) produced the Gonimon (Generative Thing), which created the opposites Warm and Cool and the Moist Power capable of uniting them. The Warm elements are Fire and Air (heaven and sky), the Cool are Water and Earth (sea and land). The Moist elements Air and Water form the bridge that connects the extremes. The resulting union of the Warm and Cool gives birth to all living things. In the Orphic version it is Eros (Love) that unites Heaven and Earth and gives birth to Gods and mortals. (See below on Primal Air.)

In alchemical terms, the Moist Radical is Mercury (Quicksilver), which joins Sulfur (the Fiery principle) and Salt (the Earthy principle). From a psychical perspective, Mercury (Spiritus, Spirit) joins Salt (Corpus, Body) and Sulfur (Anima, Soul). (See below for more on "Spirit.") Thus Mercury is a mediator, and in mythology we find Him as the messenger between Heaven and Earth. As the guide of travelers, Mercury (Hermês) is the Interpreter (Hermêneus) and Boundary Crosser who facilitates bridging differences; He is the Spirit Guide (Psychopompos) who leads us between this world (Earth) and the Netherworld (Fire).

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The Spirit Body

In the Neoplatonic doctrine of the Vehicles (Okhêmata) of the Soul, each part of the soul has a corresponding "vehicle" (okhêma) or body; in addition to the easily perceivable gross body(corresponding to Earth + Water), there are two subtle bodies: the aerial body (Air) and the radiant body (Fire). The Spirit (Pneuma) is carried by the spirit body (soma pneumatikon, okhêma pneuma) or aerial body (sometimes incorrectly called the aetheric or astral body). Therefore the aerial body transmits the powers of the higher soul to the body and vice versa; it is responsible for the functioning of the five senses and conveys the motions of life; that is, it governs animate motion and active perception. Thus the spirit body is closely connected with the nervous system.

The Spirited Soul is anchored in the Phrenes (roughly, "breast"), which refers to the lungs and heart together, and so when our Spirits are aroused in love or anger or fear, we feel it in our Phrenes. The Spirit is considered the point of balance in the soul, the "inner sun" that rules the other planets in our souls. Further, the spirit body assimilates Pneuma (Spirit, Prâna, the universal life force) from the Sun and infuses it into the gross body, for Pneuma is the source of life and of the integrity of the living form; it is the active energy of the self. Since breathing draws Pneumainto the Phrenes, in the Ascent of the Soul of Chaldean Theurgy, breathing exercises are used in the stage corresponding to the Spirited Soul.

http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/AGEDE/Air.html

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Fire in the Microcosm

[...]

In the discussion of Air I explained how the Elements correspond to the Vehicles of the Soul described in Neoplatonic lore and Chaldean Theurgy: Earth and Water correspond to the gross body, Air to the spirit body and Fire to the radiant body. The radiant body (augoeides), also known as the astral body (astroeides) or aitherial body, is the vehicle of the Higher Soul, which is responsible for the intellect, including discursive reason, but also for the Rational Will. Thus it is the efficient cause of mental activity (corresponding to the Kinêtikê, or Agent of Action, of Empedocles). The higher soul and its vehicle mediate between the Gnostic Soul, which is the highest form of the soul (associated with the Quintessence or Fifth Element), and the lower vehicles of the soul (the spirit body and gross body). (I explained in "Air" how the Breath Spirit joins the Fiery Higher Soul to the Primal Mud (Earth + Water) of the body; see "Water" on the Primal Mud.)

Augoeides is one of the arts in the white Chaos Magic.

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The Luminous Agent and Primary Matter

In a similar way alchemy distinguishes between the Innate Fire and the Moist Radical in all things. The Innate Fire is the Form of things, for Fire is Dry and Warm (= form-imposing), and the Moist Radical, which represents cohesion and flexibility (Cool, Moist), is their Matter; it is the purest, most digested form of matter (see "Water"), the Elixir of Nature, the Mercury of Life. Thus the Innate Fire "inhabits" the Moist Radical, which is called therefore the Laboratory of Vulcan, the Hearth in which burns the Eternal Fire; it is the Innate Heat of the Womb of Mother Earth.

Alchemy explains the cosmos as the result of the Luminous Agent exploding out of the Primordial Darkness and acting on the Primal Mud (which was discussed in "Water"). Since Fire is separating (Hot) and inflexible (Dry), the effect of Heat on the Primal Mud is to rarefy the Watery part and to condense the Earthy part. That is, through its Heat the Luminous Agent causes separation, so the part of the Primal Mud that retains its Moisture becomes Water, and the part that retains its Coolness becomes Earth; thus the two Elements separate.

So also Empedocles (fr. 73) says, "when Cypris [Aphrodite] was busily producing forms, She moistened Earth in Water and gave it to swift Fire [Hephaistos] to harden." And Anaximander (6th c. BCE) said that living things were generated from the Warming of Earth and Water, and likewise Heraclitus (5th c. BCE) said people are made of Fire, Water and Earth (for in this case Fire means the Warm elements, Air and Fire)

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The Harmonia of Fire and Water

Warmth and Coolness are the more active powers, according to Aristotle. Since Warmth is the dominant power of Fire and Coolness is the dominant power of Water, these are the most active Elements, and the primary opposition is between them (as represented in their signs; the signs for Air and Earth each contain a part of the sign of their opposite). Therefore, Fire and Water cannot be united directly, for they have nothing in common. The Two must be joined by a Third, which constitutes a mean linking the extremes, that is, a Harmonia, which is often translated Harmony, but more accurately means a seamless union in which the parts form a whole and yet retain their separate identities. In the Greek tradition, Harmonia is a Goddess, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares (Love and Strife). She may unite any opposites, including the opposed Elements, Fire and Water. Empedocles (fr. 96) says that "the kindly Earth received in Her wide melting-pots" a mixture of Persephone (Water) and Hephaistos (Fire) held together by Harmonia.

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In alchemy the essences of Fire and Water are called Sulphur (the Fiery Principle) and Quicksilver (the Watery Principle), the alchemical Sun and Moon. Their union is a major task in the alchemical Great Work, which may be accomplished by means of alchemical Salt (Prime Matter), corresponding to Earth. In this case Salt is the Harmonia uniting the opposites Sulphur and Quicksilver. (See below for Quicksilver as an intermediate.)

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The process of returning to the Earth, Moon and Sun at death corresponds to the alchemical dissolution into Salt, Quicksilver and Sulphur, for Sulphur, the Fiery Principle, corresponds to the higher mind, which is joined to the body, corresponding to Salt, by the soul or breath-spirit, corresponding to Quicksilver (Moist like Air). In this case Quicksilver is the intermediate Harmonia that connects the extremes of mind and matter. (We have already seen that the primary opposites Sulphur and Quicksilver may unite in Salt.)

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Summary

We have seen that Fire is the primary agent of transformation, for it represents the power to impose a self-determining form. This power has its origin in the Central Fire of Hades, which is associated with Hephaistos, the Craftsman skilled in Alchemy, and with Hekate, who holds the Keys to the Womb of Rebirth. The path to the Central Fire is through the Crater, where Fire and Water are united in Harmonia. For the worthy, Heroization by Fire provides an escape from the cycle of reincarnation and a passage to the Isles of the Blessed.

http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/AGEDE/Fire.html

Edited May 5, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

As I'm rehersing the elements, I still have a hard time seeing Water for what it is, but I guess that is perfect.
It finally clicked with me what are the three alchemical principles, their relationship with the elements and with the Quintessence.

Basically, it goes like this:

1. Salt is the principle that connects Earth with Water to form the Primal Mud.
   It corresponds with the gross body and it is not alive on its own. It is Soma.
2. Sulfur is the principle of Fire.
   It is distinct from Fire itself in that it symbolizes the incarnation of it, the "Fire body", the Soul.
   It is the intelligence, intellect, intuition, the creative and also the discursive thought. It is the Higher Mind.
3. Mercury is the the principle of Air.
   It is the Spirit, the messenger between the inreconcilable: Soma and Soul.
   It is the incarnation of that, which is Hot like Fire, but Moist like Water. It is flexible, yet separating.
   It is the indirect connection between Fire and Earth that closes the cycle.
4. The Quintessence, Gold, is the embodiment of contradiction.
   It is Fiery (color) but Cold, Dry (rigid), but Moist (Flexible, Fusable).
   It is at the same time: the alchemical laboratory, the Alchemist and the Philosopher's Stone.
   On the square of opposition it corresponds with the increase in dimensionality.
   It is the incarnation of the tripartite human nature, us, nonduality.

From here, I could return to the Alphabet of Desire and try to explicate some of the hidden connections.

Edited May 6, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

When it comes to my recent practices, I stopped flamegazing for a while and a few short sessions arose spontaneously.
Yesterday I had a two sittings in a dragon posture in front of a mirror, eyegazing.

I completely misunderstood the posture, according to this video. 
I was stilling myself in response to pain instead of channeling it to fuel my passion.

Two days ago I had a spontaneous eyegazing session with my wife.
It was very peaceful for me. She said that she altered between perceiving my smile and confusion.
I couldn't help but notice that she blinks A LOT. She's like a butterfly.
It connected with what I heard that the eye movements and blinking are related to intensity of brain activity.

In both cases (Dragon posture and eyegazing), I was entering the colorless (white=black) space very rapidly.

Edited May 6, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

50 minutes ago, now is forever said:

@tsuki can we forget the unspoken disconnection? i‘ll probably not be that close anymore as i don’t want to spend so much time on the forum, but i regard you as a friend and i‘m sorry i am such a bad one... forgot to gratulate you for your birthday because i was mad at you and even didn’t know you had an accident - was it a disc prolapse? i even think our disconnection phase was healthy. don’t think the neck and the disconnection are related as your head is obviously still on your neck 

Of course we can forget it. I'm not mad at you, I just thought that you need some time and space. These two always come free with me.
It was not a disc prolapse. I probably constricted an artery that supplies brain with oxygen while stretching my neck.
I got a series of stretch exercises from the physiotherapist and they work wonders. Even my morning neck/head ache is almost gone.

For now I'm studying a lot as you can see, so I probably won't have much to say about current affairs.
I would like to keep this particular journal focused on chaos magic study/practice. I think I will start a parallel one as a pensieve. You're invited, obviously.

Edited May 6, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

9 minutes ago, now is forever said:

@tsuki about quintessence being gold - i‘m not so sure about that - they never found it you know, the philosophers stone. you could also say it’s christal or a diamond it doesn’t matter. it’s an illusion to assign any quality to it, it will always only be a facet of it. it’s water and heat you can’t grasp it. you can only get close to its meaning approaching it from every side possible. it’s nothing.

but it’s the most valuable in the universe.

Yes, exactly. The alchemical process is only convergent. It never arrives at its goal.
The closest one can get is to see the strangeloop, that there is no middle Matryoshka.
The next step is the Void, but that cannot be seen.

[tsuki]

My wife asked me today what do I get out of studying alchemy. She was surprised that I suddenly became interested in the Humanities.
I was just thinking about how would I rationally explain this, and here's what I told her.

The quest of science is to see the connections between entities and express them in precise, verifiable theories.
The point of these theories is simple - once you identify the entities that are described, you can solve problems mechanically, without creative thought.

Creative thought, on the other hand is vague and open. When you're trying to express something, there is always this vast, nauseating feeling of directionlessness. Even if you interpret art, the code is always messy, convoluted and incomplete. Broken. You can always tell when a piece of art wants to say something, it draws you in, but it is not always clear what the message is. You have to contemplate it and relate it to yourself.

Alchemy is a marriage of the two. It uses mathematics to show relationships between entities.
These entities, however, are ambiguous symbols that can be fit in various places to show hidden connections, or establish new ones.

One gets science out of Alchemy by pretending that entites are not symbolic, ambiguous.
One gets art, when the structure is too loose, or nonexistent.

The point of studying Alchemy is, of course, the Philosopher's stone: mechanical creativity.

[tsuki]

In relation to my previous post:

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Although the four elements are ubiquitous symbols, I will emphasize psychological examples, since they better illustrate the spiritual use of the alchemical rotation. The psychologist Max Lüscher, in his theory of the ``four-color personality,'' shows how four categories of psychological structure, which correspond to the elements, can be analyzed into a pair of opposed qualities.***

On one axis the (Dry) self-determination by which a subject impresses its form on the world is opposed to the (Moist) tendency of the subject to be externally determined, to conform to its environment. On the other axis the (Hot) centrifugal character, directed from a single center to many objects or flying from one object to another, is opposed to the (Cold) centripetal quality, focused on a single object and seeking the center.

This double opposition generates four categories of psychological structure, each with a characteristic sensation, behavior and sense of self, and in Lüscher's theory each combination has a corresponding color, which characteristically excites that sensation. In short: Earth (green) is associated with solidity, persistence and self-respect; Water (blue) with relaxation, satisfaction and self-moderation; Air (yellow) with loosening, change and self-development; and Fire (red) with excitement, activity and self- confidence.

Jung's analysis of the four functions of consciousness corresponds closely to Lüscher's in structure and color: sensation (green) = Earth, thinking (blue) = Water, intuition (yellow) = Air and feeling (red) = Fire. The Cold functions (sensation, thinking) are centripetal: seeking the factual center; whereas the Hot functions (intuition, feeling) are centrifugal, seeking relationships beyond the central fact. The Dry functions (sensation, feeling) are self-determining because they are not under conscious control; whereas the Wet functions (thinking, intuition) are flexible because we may consciously direct their course.

According to both analyses psychological health requires a balance of the functions (Lüscher's four-color person, Jung's individuated Self), an idea which is not new. In the fifth century BCE Alcmaon argued that ``the bond of health is the equal rights of the powers'' (the opposed qualities), and Empedocles wrote, ``Those in whom the elements are mingled in equal or almost equal proportions ... are the most intelligent and have the most exact perceptions.'' The alchemical rotation of the elements is a procedure for achieving this balance, since it helps the chronic thinker, for example, ensure that feeling, sensation and intuition get equal time.

http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/RE.html

[tsuki]

3 minutes ago, now is forever said:

in ayurveda they have kapha vata and pita - i regard the vedas as more accurate as alchemy in sense of explaining the bodymind/mindbody, yes you are right in a sense, western alchemy might be more mechanical - it’s a little stiff.

You're hearing only one side of the story. Alchemy is not about being mechanical. It's about how dichotomies such as mechanical/creative are harmonious. How something can be both and neither at the same time. It's about transcendence. How Water (Persephone) and Fire (Hades), or Air (Zeus) and Earth (Hera) can be a marriage.

Ayurveda is a three-element structure, it has no dichotomies. It's more like body-soul-spirit. There are no opposites in a triangle, there is only a cycle.

[now is forever]

@tsuki if you knew you knew 

i did not say anything about it being problematic that mechanics and creative fit together... i‘m an industrial designer i‘m the impersonification of an alchemist... it’s just that theoretical alchemy is a little mechanical.

the three doshas have indeed an opposite it’s not like body-soul-spirit - but it’s probably a good reflection to see that ama is the fourth player in the doshas.

[tsuki]

@now is forever You're right. Do you have any good resources (preferably online) to study Ayurveda?

[now is forever]

if you go deeper it’s not only medicine it’s explaining the psyche, too. don’t confuse metaphysics with alchemy.

[tsuki]

http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/JO-TEP.html
http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/PP/index.html

http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeVI/Dao.htm

Edited May 7, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

I just came up with a way to describe Alchemy in terms of itself.

There are four factors in the process:

1. Earth: The Stone
2. Water: Logic
3. Air: The Creator
4. Fire: Creativity

The Stone is the subject matter of the process.
For a mason, it is a gross stone. For a painter, it is the canvas and paint. For a writer, it is a story. For a programmer it is code.
Its primary characteristic is that it is Dry. It has a firm structure that does not yield easily so it requires effort to conquer.
It is resistant, but loyal and therefore, stable. Secondarily, it is Cold.
It has a tendency to absorb into itself and does not mix easily.

Logic is the relative interconnectedness of things. It is like Water, because it is Cold and Moist. 
Coldness of Water comes from its ability to absorb things. To make something out of stuff that is of different kinds.
With Water, you can make a soup from vegetables. It makes fish, grass, trees and stone into a lake.
Water in itself, however is nothing. It is Moist and it has no substance of its own.
It is relative, it can only form connections, dilute, but there has to be something that needs to be connected.
You can mix various kinds of water together and you still get water.

You can combine Earth and Water through the principle of Salt. The end result is the Primal Mud.
If you take a small rock and throw it into a pond, it goes "splush". You won't be able to find it.
If you take a glass of lemonade and splush it on someone's face, he's still there and Water is gone.
You need the right combination of Logic and Stone to form Soma. The Mud needs to be sticky, but firm.

The last element is Fire, the Creativity. It is Hot and Dry, for it is discerning and obeys its own rules.
The Fire is Hot. It separates the undifferentiated Mud into various kinds.
It is also Dry. It is uncontrollable. It comes on its own and obeys its own rules.
Flame destroys and creates. It does so by taking something and making it different. 
If you give it a piece of paper, it is no longer a piece of paper. It turns it to ash and it will burn it until it's done.
It is difficult to spark a flame, but once it happens, it will spread on its own.
There is no such thing as Fire without something burning. Fire is subtle, but there is Sulfur, inspiration.
The Mud on its own will not burn and if it will, it will turn it to ash. There is also the third element, Air.

The Creator is Air, for s/he is the Mediator. S/he is Moist, and Hot.
Moisture is flexibility. It is the possibility to adapt, to yield effortlessly.
This is how The Creator is similar to Water, but unlike Water, s/he is Hot.
Hotness, on the other hand is how s/he is similar to Fire, but s/he is Hot only secondarily. S/he is also Moist.
Therefore, The Creator is the Messenger that is Moist to Fire and Hot to Water. 
S/he yields to the Creative, and discerns from the Primal Mud.
If the process gets out of hand, the Creator has the possibility to reverse the flow, to yield to Water and cool the Fire.
S/he is the Mercurial principle, the activity of reconciling the irreconcilable.

The creation comes from selective, directionless, destruction. This destruction is not random.
The Creator is the Air, invisible, directionless. It moves, but there is no mover. It reveals by dropping the curtain.

It goes,
Earth > Water > Air > Fire > Earth > Water > Air > Fire > ...
Stone > Logic > Creator > Creativity > Stone > Logic > Creator > Creativity > ...

 Each cycle turns the Stone closer to the Philosopher's stone. Logical Creativity, the Stone that is the Creator.

Edited May 7, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

@now is forever Does the picture show the canonical order of elements in Ayurveda?
Pythagoreans also had a five-element system, but I find the four-element one to be more appropriate.
Aether is subtle and it is perfect for it to be left undefined, as an upward movement through the spiral of creation.

When it comes to the Earth element, here are a few links if you want to chew on it some more:
http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/AGEDE/Earth.html
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hera

Edited May 8, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

1 hour ago, now is forever said:

@tsuki aether is created through fire and water. it’s clouds, steam, humidity in the jungle the morning dew, whatever its not really an element but it entails all elements - it’s the substance our dreams are made of. vata is made of air and clouds - it’s the creative dosha. i don’t know anything tzuki but i know, i‘m making all of this up, and i read it in the books later, that i didn’t, it’s my own experience, it’s all vata.

Hey, I'm not saying that the books are right because they are books. It is all my experience too, I just use the knowledge to systematize this.
Some things are beautiful because they are raw, and some are beautiful because they are symmetrical.
Alchemy is something that shows the underlying symmetry of how the world works. It's the symmetry of the raw.

I brought Pythagoreans up because they use the pentacle to show what you are saying.

The original 4 elements are within the square of opposition (it is counterclockwise here): Earth, Water, Air, Fire.
The fifth element, here called Spirit, is above, connected to all of the rest elements.
It is not really a pentacle, it is a pyramid. In the original image, Spirit is the observer, the one that reads the image.
I think that the fifth element is best left outside of the picture because it is mystical, esoteric.
It is equally made of Fire and Water, as it is made of Earth and Air. It symbolizes the ascent, increase in dimensionality, the Quintessence, reconciliation of the opposites in harmony.

Edited May 8, 2019 by tsuki

[tsuki]

3 minutes ago, now is forever said:

@tsuki no you don’t get it. it’s not the observer, observer is ego you try to throw the ego out.

Enough bickering. Ego is Air, Spirit is emptiness and they are not opposed to each other.

[tsuki]

Quote

Marriage to Zeus

Hera is known for her jealousy; even Zeus, who is known to fear nothing, feared her tantrums. Zeus fell in love with Hera, but she refused his first marriage proposal. Zeus then preyed on her empathy for animals and other beings, created a thunderstorm and transformed himself into a little cuckoo. As a cuckoo, Zeus pretended to be in distress outside her window. Hera, feeling pity towards the bird brought it inside and held it to her breast to warm it. Zeus then transformed back into himself and raped her. Hera, ashamed of being exploited, agreed to marriage with Zeus. All of nature burst into bloom for their wedding and many gifts were exchanged.[39]

Zeus loved Hera, but he also loved Greece and often sneaked down to Earth in disguise to bear children with the mortals. He wanted many children to inherit his greatness and become great heroes and rulers of Greece. Hera's jealousy towards all of Zeus' lovers and children caused her to continuously torment them and Zeus was powerless to stop his wife. Hera was always aware of Zeus' trickery and kept very close watch over him and his excursions to Earth.[39]

Hera "presided over the right arrangements of the marriage and is the archetype of the union in the marriage bed."[40]

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Hera

[tsuki]

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Classical_element