Alchemy is a form of transmutation or deep change. This transformative process usually has outside influences or energies acting as a catalyst.
What is personal transformation and how does alchemy play a role? This guide will help you move beyond the ego and embrace a new way of living.
What is Personal Transformation?
Also referred to as alchemy of the mind and body, personal transformation is the process of changing one’s Self on a fundamental or spiritual level.
This transformative process usually hinges on reducing the ego, or the part of the mind that limits you with artificial beliefs and negative ways of looking at the world.
We develop these viewpoints for a variety of reasons, often out of trauma response. However, they are more of a detriment because as the ego grows, it shrinks the soul.
Put another way, the larger your ego is, the more difficult it becomes to tap into your true power and see the world in its proper light.
Therefore personal transformation is a process of reawakening or rediscovery. You are essentially relearning how to live, and this in turn makes you incredibly powerful.
Why is Personal Transformation Important?
Without transformation of this sort, life can feel daunting and purposeless.
The main reason why personal transformation is so important is because it enables you to take back your life. Instead of floundering around from one day to the next, feeling as though you have no power and there is no meaning in the world, you are reborn with purpose.
A strong mind and body leads to a more colorful, magickal world.
How is a Person Transformed With Natural Alchemy?
If you are interested in transforming your Self, the first step rests in your ability to understand the natural energies around you.
Just as everything in nature has a chemical composition, so too does it have an elemental composition, or energy signature.
When you apply these energy signatures to the Self, in certain quantities and combinations, change inevitably occurs. This is no different than physical chemistry.
In hermetics, natural alchemy is the act of undergoing deep change by working in harmony with nature and your inner, true Self.
It is the process of the weak and confused gaining strength and awareness as they are acted upon by the influences of the natural elements and their own awareness.
Personal transformation of this sort is extremely powerful, because the change occurs at the core of your being. In other words, it is not superficial.
How do you harness this power and begin the transformation to a better you?
This is when the study of the Self truly begins.
Bonding With Nature and Embracing the Self
Natural forces act upon us constantly on the subtle level. These include the force of our own mind.
Nature’s alchemy is ongoing, but in order to take advantage of it, you have to reciprocate.
This electro-chemical data is ignited by a host of factors, such as plant energy signatures, electromagnetic fields, sunlight, bacteria, pollen, microbes, fungi, and the thought-matrices of other animals.
In order to receive the full effect of these forces, you have to open yourself up to them, and coordinate with them.
Transformation through alchemy relies on understanding etheric correspondences, or how the natural energies of the world interact with one another.
The human body, like all living creatures, is both a transmitter and receiver. Perfecting both aspects of your being is key if you want to work in concert with nature.
Specifically, you are going to want to work on your ability to receive and process energy. You might call this “getting in touch with your Self.”
Most people have unconsciously walled themselves off from the natural energies that surround them. In doing so they also attach themselves unhealthily to powerful and poisonous energies that don’t have their best interests at heart, such as toxic people or lifeless objects.
Individual Transformation Techniques and Training
This is why most people are simultaneously dead to the natural world and lack any sort of awareness, yet are also very easily led and have malleable energy that can be manipulated.
When you don’t train your energy and build your Self with natural alchemy, you remain weak and flimsy from an energy standpoint. You are also biochemically hindered, meaning you are prone to disease and bodily malfunction, like cancer. You are also more prone to diseases of the mind, such as attachment, depression, and discontent.
So your first task in personal transformation is to open up to the energies and forces of nature. This requires you to actually go outside and symbolically / mentally let your guard down.
The ego makes it hard to be holistically humble. You have to admit you don’t know everything and you’re not really that tough. You have to be willing to accept that you are out of place and need realignment.
Once you open up to nature, you put your Self in a receiving mode, better able to be influenced by the right forces. You are effectively saying, “I am willing to be taught.”
This is more important than you know. It is nearly impossible to teach someone who doesn’t want to learn and who thinks they know everything. It is one of the great hurdles in passing on truths to other people.
Your individual transformation will begin when you at last freely open your Self to the knowledge and power that the natural world has to offer. The alchemy begins here.
If you are interested in the power of alchemy and what it can do for your personal development, we highly recommend Fearless Self.
In it, you will learn how to bridge the gap between mind and body, discover lasting happiness, raise your awareness, and embrace your true natural power.
You have the ability to transform every aspect of your life, no matter where you are or what your level of experience is with the esoteric.
Invest in your Self. Transform your life.
The founder of Digital Sages, Matt has an extensive background in self-mastery and has authored several books on the subject. His goal is to demystify important esoteric subjects and help people transform their lives through self-awareness and personal empowerment.
This is so timely for me right now. I am working toward my herbalist certification and looking into Aromatherapy Certification. This is a great topic to add to my repertoire. Love to learn more.
That is amazing, herbology is such an interesting path and one that I’m drawn to as well. Good luck on your certification.
As for the transformative powers of alchemy, it is a similar kind of natural force as you might find in an herbal remedy. It all rests on what hermetics call energy correspondences.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic please feel free to explore, we have a wealth of information here. I highly recommend this piece on hermetic correspondence if you want to understand the deeper forces behind such practices as aromatherapy.
Of course, I also highly recommend this course on alchemy if you want to better understand your Self and your natural powers.
Be well!
Interesting. There is one part that really stood out to me: “The ego makes it hard to be holistically humble. You have to admit you don’t know everything and you’re not really that tough. You have have to be willing to admit that you are out of place and need realignment.” It’s great when people recognize this… but is there a way to give something like a thought-seed to someone else who has yet to reach this? Thank you.
There is never an easy answer to this. As the old saying goes, “I can only show you the door, you are the one who has to walk through it.”
Meaning that in all matters of self-mastery, everything rests on choice, and we cannot make a choice for another being, only ourselves.
You are on the right track though, as a “thought-seed” as you put it is exactly what teachers try and plant in their student’s heads.
This can be approached in several ways. One method is the Zen way of reaching people through a koan or parable, such as a paradoxical or mystical saying or story that provokes thought and encourages self-reflection. Another method is using trauma as a catalyst. If you can get a person to talk about their past and their mental blockages, there is always a chance that they will “process” their mental limiters.
Sometimes it’s as simple as forcing self-reflection on the basis of something mundane, such as finances or relationship issues. If you can get a person to admit they have made mistakes in the past about anything, this opens enough of a crack in the ego for further work. You can always use a mistake or shortcoming as an opportunity to heal, by letting the person know that this mistake doesn’t define them and that they can overcome it by dissolving the ego.
Of course, the tried and true method of physical discipline is usually effective. If you can get a person to start lifting weights or undergoing some form of martial discipline or yoga, it often breaks a lot of the ego’s defenses and tends to humble people. This is the backbone of many ancient spiritual traditions because it is so effective.
Very interesting topic and worthy of its own blog piece. (Might be in the works!)