The Fundamentals
When attempting to travel down the road of spiritual alchemy it helps to have an understanding of how the system is structured. As I’ve mentioned before, what I’m about to discuss is what I’ve garnered from my journey. I’ve watched many videos online and have also experienced a few things first hand. I’m not stating that I’m the first to discover such things, nor am I telling you to believe them. I want you to read this with scrutiny. I want you to listen to your intuition. That small inkling you get in your gut, or the ping you feeling in your chest can sometimes be your own intuition guiding you.
Our intuition is there for our safety and to help guide us and navigate the world according to our highest good. However, for many of us, since we were little, were taught to negate our own instincts. We were told what to do out of obedience regardless of how it may have impacted us. Little girls were told to hug the person that gave them a weird feeling, because it was rude to refuse and make someone “feel bad.” Or other little children that felt uncomfortable around a particular person such as a coach, a youth paster, or a teacher and were instructed to negate their intuition in order to conform to social expectations. Unfortunately, for many, this teaches us that we cannot trust ourselves. The adults know best. Therefore, we inadvertently succumb to the pressures from the adults in our lives and completely abandon ourselves for self preservation.
That sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? One might insinuate that listening to our intuition, whether we were forced to act against it, should actually prove we were right; then, why would we learn to distrust it when our concerns were validated? Well, I imagine it might be this way for some, but for the majority of children this is not the case. When we are young we do what we need to in order to survive. Survival is at the root of our existence, especially when we’re small and rely on the assistance of others. We do what we must in order to remain in good standing with the people who take care of us. However, not only do we have basic needs that must be met, we also deeply desire love and connection. So children act in a way that ensures their survival, as well as satisfies their needs for connection - whether negatively or positively.
Additionally, as young people who do not have a fully developed brain, we can’t be expected to think rationally as an adult would. So when someone tells you to hug the nice neighbor, even though you’re uncomfortable, you acquiesce and perform for your survival. Therefore, the first step, especially for those of you that have yet to start your spiritual journey, would be to get to know yourself again. But, for those of you that may be struggling to find your intuition, alchemy may be the first steps that you must take. In order to know yourself, you must first remove all the lies and programs that have been placed upon you that have been layering and layering over top of your true self like a 20 tier cake.
The first piece of the cake is understanding that we live in a world that many refer to as the matrix. It’s actually a great analogy. A world created like a veil over our eyes that prevents us from seeing the truth. This matrix also has layers. It may even be accurate to state that many of those layers have been placed there on purpose to keep us from knowing our true selves. Whether they were created by the powers that be, or just a concoction of our own doing; this is a multidimensional experience. There are layers that encompass the collective, and our own individual layers that pertain more specifically to ourselves and the lives we live. It’s like that veil I mentioned. There are layers and layers of veils to uncover that lead us back to who we truly are.
It sounds a bit out there, doesn’t it? Like a sci-fi movie. But the best way to explain it, really, is through analogy. Because how can I explain something to you that you have no conceptual idea of? How could I tell you what a financial system is, if you’ve existed in a society that shares all of their goods and performs tasks out of necessity for the wellbeing of the community, instead of for profit? Some of the biggest challenges you will face while on the road to spiritual alchemy is being able to process new information and letting go of the old.
Some layers are pieces of our past we carry around, like infected wounds that are difficult to heal. These require us to acknowledge, have empathy for ourselves, and release what doesn’t align with what we want. One of the biggest layers I faced was a deep wound from a past life. It was so deep that it carried over into this life, and I struggled with it into my early twenties. I had to face aspects of my reality that were connected to it, that condoned what happened to me and let those go as well. Ultimately, that process ended when I had a dream of this specific past life and understanding filled my sense of knowing. It was then, that I was able to comfort and empathize with myself before letting it go. It held a deep connection to the karma I was set to experience in this life, but chose to walk away from.
Other layers are aspects of ourselves that we can integrate and welcome back home within us. These include aspects of our ego - the monkey mind, the chatter that exists from all the programming, it is the aspect of ourselves that helps create the deep immersive effect for living in this reality. This part of ourselves is the collection of experiences that we use to navigate the world. But as we learn to critically think about our own thoughts and their validity in creating our best life, we encounter parts of our ego that hold onto old beliefs.
For instance, I encountered this when I faced the part of me that struggled with survival. This part of me that lived in fear and didn’t know that I could be safe by simply existing. Everything needed to be worked for and existence was revolving around what I must do to prevent my demise. After learning how to exist fearlessly, I was able to meet her and embrace her back into myself. I reintegrated that aspect back into my being and was able to give her comfort and peace. Knowing that everything would be okay and that I trusted myself and my intuition to handle situations as they arise.
Additionally, not all layers are “bad” and must be “purged.”
(Another piece of that cake is understanding that simple words like “good” or “bad” are arbitrary, because these dualities are too limiting. It’s one or the other. Our brains like that kind of thinking though, because it’s simple and we can characterize things easily for our safety. Imagine living during a time where survival may have been at the forefront of existence. Every day was a challenge. Dualities made living easier to characterize people, things or situations, because it meant that you could make fast decisions. But that doesn’t benefit us in today’s society, because our lives already have systems in place to keep us safe. Therefore, our simplistic way of thinking limits our capabilities, because we no longer need to depend on it in the same way.)
But, one way we can move beyond dualities is by trusting our intuition; essentially, we won’t need to rely on the brain to decipher whether something is “good” or “bad,” because we will have an additional sense that can add to our overall understanding and give us a broader picture.
This isn’t to say that the way we currently exist has no value and that we must change everything we know, on the contrary! I believe we have learned a great deal from one another and wouldn’t dare ask us to move backwards. If anything, the goal here is to get back to the root of who we are, and use it to propel us into a greater and more peaceful existence. Unfortunately, this will be quite a big ask, and not many people will be up to the task. It starts with understanding that many of the ways we exist in society are not rooted in fact or truth, but are instead created layers that we have derived to make sense of our reality. And as we grow we can evolve these parts of our collective experience to benefit us even further.
Alchemy is understanding that although we’ve lived this way, were raised this way, doesn’t mean that we must continue living and experiencing life this way. We always have a choice. Our entire existence is made up of an almost infinite amount of choices. We choose how we talk to our friends, we choose how we raise our kids (either the way our parent’s did, or a new way), we choose what we want to eat, to wear, to consume. We continuously make choices, whether they are unconscious or conscious. Alchemy helps us understand the unconscious choices, and reveals them to us so that we can choose whether we want to continue making the same ones, or decide to create something different.