Terence McKenna's "Alchemical Dream"
Tristan Gulliford
![](http://www.realitysandwich.com/sites/realitysandwich.civicactions.net/files/imagecache/large/alchemical.jpg "Terence McKenna's "Alchemical Dream"")
In The Alchemical Dream, a film produced by Sacred Mysteries and directed by Sheldon Rochlin, visionary author and counterculture luminary Terence McKenna relates some of the curious history of European alchemy, and the attempted creation of a religious utopia based on alchemical principles. Dressed as the famed Hermetic magician John Dee, McKenna strolls wistfully through the crumbling ruins and sweeping castle vistas of Eastern Europe discussing the lost secrets of alchemy. He gives us a tour of the last remaining alchemical laboratory in Heidelberg, and tells a fascinating story of political intrigue and bohemian experimentation in the 16th century.
The alchemists were after what McKenna describes as a “magical theory of nature.” They used precise and calculated methods that would pave the way for the future intellectual development of some important sciences such as chemistry, biology, phenomenology, and psychology. Their intention was to transform the human spirit and the physical body itself into something divine and wholly other, something resembling the odd and spectacular alchemical art of the time. They experimented with myriad combinations of special chemicals, magical formulas, and complex distillation processes designed to produce the fabled “philosopher's stone”: a metaphorical goal which can be read in many ways. In essence, the alchemists were trying to bring heaven down to earth by merging spiritual mysticism with the physiological exploration of alchemical mixtures.
According to McKenna, the group of European alchemists who centered around John Dee and the British court of Queen Elizabeth I in the late 1500's believed that the spiritual philosophy of alchemy was so profound and full of potential that it should be embraced as the popular religious paradigm of the day. The Christian preacher Martin Luther had started a Protestant reformation in 1517 with the 95 Theses and now, a century later, Dee felt that the world was ready for an alchemical reformation. With this idea of a religious reformation in mind, Dee and a group of court alchemists traveled to the palace of King Frederick V of Bohemia in 1618 with the intention of establishing a new alchemical kingdom.
This alchemical dream lasted for about a year before the Austrian dynasty of the Hapsburg family got wind of the reformation plan and disapproved of Frederick's kingship, quickly dispatching an army to lay siege to the kingdom of Bohemia and Frederick's court. After a brief period of fighting Frederick was defeated at the Battle of the White Mountain on November 8th, 1620, and the Bohemian hopes of establishing an alchemical religious state were destroyed. While the bulk of alchemical knowledge was lost to Western civilization after this time, the intellectual threads of this esoteric philosophy can still be found in the modern world.
As McKenna points out, this attempted reformation was not entirely dissimilar to what happened in the social climate of America in the 1960's with the re-introduction of sacred plants into Western culture and the social upheaval that occurred simultaneously. McKenna describes the drug revival of the 60's as a sort of “failed alchemy” whose ideal was to transform the human spirit, but wound up as a splintered and marginalized movement, similar to alchemy. However, although alchemy was lost to Western civilization for a few centuries, some of the basic ideas can still be found scattered here and there in some esoteric religious practices, mystical writings, transpersonal psychology and art history books: themes of creativity, diversity, synchronicity, unions of opposites, and personal psycho-spiritual exploration which were all an essential part of the alchemical endeavor.
So while the dream of European alchemy may have apparently died in the 16th century, the underlying motivation of the alchemists – a desire for innovative and genuine spiritual experience – is a fundamental human characteristic that can be traced through many different cultures and time periods. As an example of this, at the end of The Alchemical Dream, McKenna makes an interesting historical footnote about a young solider named Rene Descartes who was part of the invading Hapsburg army which defeated the Bohemian kingdom. Shortly after this time, Descartes was visited in a dream by an angelic apparition who instructed him with a piece of advice which would fundamentally alter our world. The angel said to him, “The conquest of nature is to be achieved through measures and numbers.” Descartes would go on to become one of the most influential scientists and philosophers of his day. For McKenna, this is a perfect example of how the spirit of alchemy (the spirit of inner human creativity) will continuously reappear at opportune moments and direct the course of human events in mysterious ways which we can only begin to understand.
A trailer for the film is available on Google video.
For more information or to request a screening, visit Sacred Mysteries.
Tristan Gulliford is a writer, dreamer, and aspiring myth-keeper who makes electronic music under the name "Dreamcode". He is currently attending the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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The Greatest Mystery
Alchemy was concerned with the positive unification of polarities. This is to say that polarities will mutually annihilate some of the time, but will unite to fuse into something greater more of the time. Alchemy is the only case where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Believe it or not, the greatest mystery still looming over our collective heads is alchemical. That is the mystery of why the Sun & Moon should appear to be the same diameter, as embodied by a Total Solar Eclipse, from our perspective here on Earth. The Moon just happens to be in a "Goldilocks zone," wherein it's 400 times smaller than the Sun while the Sun is 400 times farther away, creating the illusion of like size for the 2 bodies here. Science says that this is just an astonishing coincidence, but alchemy would say it's more than that. It's something I've been researching over the years & had a breakthrough with a few years back. Just as this odd coincidence has escaped the popular attention "above," so has an odd aspect of probability, which arises when 2 coins are tossed, escaped the popular attention "below." More will be revealed, as they say.
With relief, with humiliation, with terror, he understood that he too was a mere appearance, dreamt by another. - Jorge Luis Borges, The Circular Ruins
great movie about a poorly-understood topic
yeah the sun and the moon
That's what Bobby Kaufman the Beat poet was saying to me when he recited "when the wind blows the sun into the moon" i think he was actually quoting Keats, or Shelly,those guys knew about the alchemy of the event.
Too bad Terence's arcane library was lost in a fire.I remember reading works about John Dee, and meditating on the Hieroglyphic Monad, and one day i woke from a vision of the meaning of the Hieroglyphic Monad, Dee used the "Angelic Language" and did it through his rogue Scribe Edward Kelly.There was a scene in the last Queen Elisabeth movie, where she consults her mystic/astrologer John Dee.Dee was also a spy, apparently.
But it seems that the Angelic Language has been lost,even though some people still attempt to construct it ,like those books that Terence gathered in that unfortunate alchemic fire.
but the Alchemical Dream is just a quantum heart beat away.Voynech manscript?
Kundalini
the Federation of Damanhur
I invite everyone interested in Alchemical traditions to investigate the Federation of Damanhur. It's a whole society based in alchemy.
* European alchemy? check
* creation of spiritual utopia? check
* based in alchemical principles? check
* lost secrets? check
* alchemical laboratory in Heidelberg? no, it's in Italy
* magical theory of nauture? check
* precise and calculated methods? check
* intention to transform the human spirit towards divinity? check
* experiments with special chemicals, magical formulas, and complex distillation? check
* bringing heaven down to Earth? check
* belief that the spiritual philosophy of alchemy is so profound and full of potential that it should be embraced as the popular religious paradigm of the day? check
* themes of creativity, diversity, synchronicity, unions of opposites, and personal psycho-spiritual exploration? check, check, check, check, and check -- explicitely, and in spades
* desire for innovative and genuine spiritual experience -- check
We don't have to wonder about an ancient past; It's a living reality right over in Italy. You can visit, talk with the people, ask them about their efforts and their purpose, and so on.
Damanhur
From what I've seen Damanhur definitely seems to be one of the most interesting community projects going on right now.
What do they say specifically about alchemy? Are they acknowledging this tradition of European alchemy that Dee was a part of?
I don't know.
I honestly don't know enough about alchemy to answer that.
What I can say, is that they very prominantly positioned a book on alchemy on their main table, next to books by Damanhurians.
Damanhur focuses on constant change, transformation, the divinity of humankind, researching the sacred and scientific principles at work in life, exalting uniqueness and differentness in all people, incarnating imagination, performing practical works to create a new society on Earth, life decisions, and so on.
They're also incredibly, incredibly busy. I didn't hear anyone ask them about alchemy or the roots of their ideas.
I didn't put it all together until I read this article, and thought, "Wait, that's exactly what Damanhur is doing." Then I remembered the alchemy book on the table.
I don't think that Damanhurians are trying to hide anything; Rather, I just think that they're incredibly busy, and just rolling along. It really has to be seen to be understood and believed. I mean, when I say "They're busy." ...what I mean is, that any Damanhurian is more busy than anyone I have met outside of Damanhur. I think they've discovered a root password to transforming thought into action.
There is a "Damanhurian work ethic," I'll call it, forced into action by missionary zeal to reawaken the human being. Their concept of "freedom" is radically different than ours; They consider freedom as the ability to make dreams real, freedom from our passions and addictions, thus they see an equation: Freedom=Work.
If you really want to get to the heart of Damanhurian philosophy, the best way to do so is with the books Dying to Learn, Reborn to Live, and Seven Scarlet Doors which I only discovered once I got there. This is the "Trilogy of the Initiate," and forms the written & public cornerstone of the School of Meditation.
It's challenging stuff. It's moved me to tears, and forced some hard questions and thoughts in me. It's all substance. Incredibly emotional, heartbreaking at times, imaginative, and also deeply inspiring. The text presents itself as fiction, but questions of "true/false" are totally irrelevant and besides the point.
The Prophet by Gibran is sort of similar, and similarly, there's no-- At no point in The Prophet, is there a line or stanza where it says, "This text is based in the XYZ tradition of the peoples of Nod," or whatever. Similarly, the Trilogy of the Initiate doesn't really talk about the history of the philosophy. It's too busy with what it's saying.
But I'll bet if you asked around, or even just asked Falco on Friday, he'd tell you what books he was reading in his initial explorations, and what his influences were. I just didn't ask that question.
Definitely visit, if you are interested. You won't be disappointed. Do work-study for 2 weeks if you can, but make sure there's someone who speaks Italian with you.
Terrible example!
"So while the dream of European alchemy may have apparently died in the 16th century, the underlying motivation of the alchemists – a desire for innovative and genuine spiritual experience – is a fundamental human characteristic that can be traced through many different cultures and time periods. As an example of this, at the end of The Alchemical Dream, McKenna makes an interesting historical footnote about a young solider named Rene Descartes who was part of the invading Hapsburg army which defeated the Bohemian kingdom. Shortly after this time, Descartes was visited in a dream by an angelic apparition who instructed him with a piece of advice which would fundamentally alter our world. The angel said to him, “The conquest of nature is to be achieved through measures and numbers.” Descartes would go on to become one of the most influential scientists and philosophers of his day. For McKenna, this is a perfect example of how the spirit of alchemy (the spirit of inner human creativity) will continuously reappear at opportune moments and direct the course of human events in mysterious ways which we can only begin to understand."
What an dreadful example!
Rene Descartes' vision being seen by McKenna to be a fine example of 'spiritual alchemy'. Ie., the legacy of Cartesian dualism, and his belief that animals were machines who could be tortured, and murdered for the betterment of mankind?
'Bringing heaven down to Earth'?
Not for millions of animals it isn't!
Centuries after Descarte's influence, this massive crime against animals continues. Many even bred for this hellish degraded existence, done to them by dehumanized people without ANY soul or spirit!
Scientific angels
I totally agree that Descartes' legacy has been, in general, bad for the world. I think Cartesian dualism is totally inaccurate to describe how we experience the world.
However, regardless of how you view the insititution of science, you can't deny Descartes' contributions as being crucial.
McKenna meant this to be ironic--he was saying that even in the pursuit of something as black and white and seemingly non-supernatural as science is today, there is nonetheless still the influence from angelic/shamanic realms present in the quest of science. He was using this example to show how the creative spirit can pop up in places where we least expect it...
point missed - reconsider!
Regardless of any atrocity proposed by descarte, the relevance of this story is quite keen and intact and I request you reconsider it's relevance.
try to see if you can look at it this way. In western philosophy, especially philosophy of science, the entire body of rational thinking and science owes it's allegiance to Rene Descarte (among a few others). He was far from a moral leader, (and certainly we dont look to 16th century thinking for ideals regarding animal liberation anyway). The fact that the tenets of rational thinking and science for all of civilization were historically established/inspired via their opposite, i.e. an irrational and artistic inner vision, is an example of alchemical union.
That the historical dialectic can produce and emerge a mystical vision at the center of the rational movement is profound. To miss that fact in preference to PETA would be a pity, or a P.I.T.Y (People for the Intellectual Treatment of Your post;-)
dont see it like you
I look at the FRUIT of something.
How does it fruit?
Is it corrupt or healing? because we are talking about REAL life affected, not just abstract ideas!
Descartes' vision was not healing!
Like the Nazis' visions were not healing.
Its beside the point they may have been 'nonordinary'. We have to see what these nonordinary visions are saying. Are they healing or poisonous? I don't need any visions--necessarily--to show me that his vision was toxic after what was influenced by it.
I can't wait until this
I can't wait until this movie comes out!!! I was going to work with my local Consciousness Meetup group to get a showing of this movie, but then I looked at the ridiculous contract that MUST be adhered to in order to do a screening and figured that since it comes out so soon, why go through the hassle when we can just wait a couple more months!?!? Alchemy is a very shadowed, but interesting topic, same goes for Enochian "magick" which I've only skimmed the surface of. . .powerful stuff!!
Black Light in the Attic Podcast w/Serpicody & Sancho http://blacklightattic.podomatic.com
Descartes and the sub-text of his environs
I haven't seen this documentary, but look forward to seeing it and judging it from first-hand experience.
As to Descarte, his method was a pattern of extraction of prior language that included consciousness as a 'verity' into what became the predecessor of a materialistic and exclusive methodology. Highly political, since by its means, 'conscience' was conveniently set aside and we are left with mere 'forces'.
It is true that some of these speculations presaged actual discoveries in physical sciences. When Einstein . . . or was it his first wife? . . . came along and attempted to be even more restrictive the term 'ether' or some 'medium' for connectivity between thinking, feeling beings enabled an even larger chasm between consciousness as a force to be reckoned with and a view that we are a kind of flotsam within a mostly gross patterned chaos . . . or is it both? The physicists like to say 'both' and yet have no quanitifiable method or approach in any mathematical way to give 'awareness' mathematical probity.
Even the 'alchemical' tradition, I believe, was a search to try and find how some people seem to transform the material aspect or body from disease to health. They were still taking an external approach and they were 'theorists': read 'nutritionists' or static/statistical reasoners. Some method, some approach was missed. They weren't really 'in' amongst the 'knowers'.
And these 'knowers' seemingly had a principle for transmission of information or method for 'generalization' of the 'key'.
Today, this amounts to 'disciplic succession' or 'diksha' or 'touch' of the 'guru'.
I view such highly problematic and limited.
We don't need no 'alchemists' or 'gurus' to know we have hopes that go beyond what the world profers to us. It is a popular idea, evidently, one must accrue more and more information from disparate 'histories' or some 'insider' or some special event in terms of 'measure' of progress.
We will be entertained, no matter what. Eventually, we will learn to be entertained by we, our lone selves, all by ourselves. In ourselves, within ourselves and then maybe discover this 'secret'. Then we will be silent like a person who finds a gem in the mud. The mud doesn't detract from the value of the gem. 'Anointing' the gem with expensive oils doesn't add to its value.
We will go to the market and sell the gem to the highest bidder, but we will not lose in doing so. We will keep a sharp eye on the ground thereafter in a kind of 'enlightened' commercialism. We will miss the birds flitting about thankfully, because they are just stupid machines that think they are alive. They don't understand 'alchemy'. They are not even interesting, because . . . someday, the next 'jewel' is bound to be found in the next mud-puddle. THEN! Then we will become 'all powerful'!
And the country-bumpkin who can't even read or write passes by and smiles inwardly but showing concern according to his or her heart outwardly to that 'alchemist' or 'metaphysician' who practices the ideal: lacking something.
This does boil down to something: people who have faith in their own intelligence as something immaterial and especially their own; and people who have faith in their intelligence as a method to get some 'secret' from external things and facts and people. This is what this history refers to including that third category of 'faith' that is in an imaginary structure of 'reality' that has nothing to promote itself beyond a power-structure or threats of punishments and imprisonment or death. Not just physical death, even, but 'eternal death'. And the inner voice that laughs is ignored. This latter phenomenon is due to nothing more than 'legerdermain' bought into out of another purchase: external pattern comprises all of inner and most intimate pattern. The disparities that exist are chucked up to personal 'oddity'. Oh no! We mustn't diverge from mob-rule.
There is a lineage of peoples who don't worship as the world worships. They don't write books. They don't argue points of abstract math or metaphysic. They live an 'alternate' reality and don't even think by so doing they are 'teaching' by example. They are living invisibly alongside 'learners', assuming all know what they know. They are truly innocent.
Patrick Harpur's Mercurius
Thanks for the heads up Tristan, this McKenna film looks great, I'll definitely be checking it out. I'd dress up in Elizabethan weeds too if I had the courage and the chinks. McKenna is still with us I think..
To anybody interested in alchemy, I highly recommend Patrick Harpur's, "Mercurius; or the Marriage of Heaven and Earth."
Disguised as a cliched novel, it's actually one of the most sophisticated introductions to alchemy and alchemical thought that I've come across (I've read a few.) I've long felt that the Jungian lens obscures as much as it reveals of alchemy, so I was glad to see Harpur putting it to one side and returning to the source materia. Harpur's alchemy is the tantra of the west, the material spiritualized the spiritual materialized: the art of immortal love. Transmute the stone! Rock on.
The Dream has not died....
There are plenty of people in the US, right now, practicing Alchemy following the ancient European lineage and adding to it with modern insights and practices from the discoveries of subtle energies and sacred science.
It's what we've been doing for the last 18 years, and it's becoming ever more relevant to the spiritual paths of those we work with, along with entheogens and other initiatic substances, also subjects of our work.
Alchemy is the Shamanic lineage of the West, our own line of scientist-healer-visionaries, and it's not part of any exotic worldview or foreign mindset- it belongs to us and has returned full force because we need its gifts.
Strength & Wisdom,
Al-Qemi
www.al-kemi.com