The Alchemist’s Kitchen is an examination of alchemy — what it is, what symbols it uses and includes a cookbook of various recipes to use and practice the art on your own.
For as confusing a topic as alchemy is for me, Guy Ogilvy has put together the most succinct explanation of it I have ever read. I still don’t completely get it, but for the first time I was able to follow the general idea of it from beginning to end rather becoming completely lost and giving up in the middle.
“The story of alchemy, at least in the West, is, in a nutshell, the story of gold and our relationship with it.” pg 2
Let’s not forget spiritual gold. The search for the Philosopher’s Stone seems to entail something of both the physical and the mystical, a curious mixture of both.
Ogilvy uses each section, which consists of one page, to completely explain a concept and then, on the opposite page, provides alchemical artwork to illustrate the concept. It is clear, concise, and it makes me crazy that I still don’t get most of it.
The most fascinating part to me was the author’s description of colors, planetary correspondences, and their purposeful arrangement in famous works of art like Raphael’s “The Crucifixion”. You can see it here:
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/raphael-the-mond-crucifixion
Who knew Raphael was an alchemist? I didn’t.
“There is a way of manipulating matter and energy so as to create what modern science calls a force-field. This force-field acts upon the observer and puts him in a privileged position in relation to the universe. From this privileged position, he has access to realities which are normally concealed from us by time and space, matter and energy. This is what we call the Great Work.” pg 38
Some of this book sounds like nonsense. But then I wonder why so many people have been obsessed with these practices for so long if there’s nothing to them? Oh right, probably because of the creating gold from dross part of it.
I’m still not one hundred percent convinced that alchemy isn’t anything other than a misunderstood metaphor for purely spiritual practices. But I’m still willing to dream and explore and entertain the idea that the magical might be concretely possible.
Recommended for readers who are dreamers, like me.
Thanks for reading!
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