The Nature of Alchemical Transformation
Taking Shortcuts and the Law of Equivalent Exchange
Hello dear readers and adventurers and welcome to another week of exploring your soul’s journey. I’ve always had an interest in alchemy from the time I found an old paperback book at a used book store with simply the title “Alchemy” back in the late 1980’s, to reading the Harry Potter books with my boys, to the present where transformation, I’ve realized, is an ongoing process in life.
Today, I want to talk about what taking shortcuts means in the alchemical transformation process.
Please join me and share your thoughts!
~Suzanne
Let’s start with a quick definition of alchemy.
alchemy (noun) al· che· my ˈal-kə-mē
1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life
2: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way… the practitioners of financial alchemy that transformed the world of money in the 1980's …—Gordon Williams
3: an inexplicable or mysterious transmuting
While the idea of turning base metals into gold or silver or creating the elixir of life to stop aging is what most people think of as alchemy, I tend to lean toward definition #2, though I don’t think it has to be mysterious, nor do I think it’s inexplicable. It is simply a process.
What is the #1 rule of alchemy?
As quoted by Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist : Human kind can not gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. In those days we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.
Yes, this is anime fiction, but let me repeat that anyway… “to obtain, something of equal value must be exchanged”.
In commerce, it’s pretty straightforward. If a seller offers an item for a specific price, and a buyer feels that price is an equal exchange, the sale is made. But how do we look at this from a personal transformation viewpoint?
True personal transformation comes from within.
Consider the example of breaking a habit (smoking, drinking, etc). All the meetings, supplements, gums, and patches won’t break the habit until the intent is there and the effort to break the habit is made. Time isn’t always a factor. Intent is key. Spending more time on something doesn’t necessarily make the change happen if there is no intent behind it.
So spending more time in exchange for a result isn’t always an equivalent exchange.
In the example of quitting smoking, the intent to breathe clean air and live without respiratory issues is one possible exchange, as well as saving money on (now $10 per pack) cigarettes. But is that enough motivation? Is that enough of an exchange to give up the pleasure that smoking gives you?
What is the intent behind it? Maybe the underlying intent is to live long enough to see children or grandchildren grow up or having extra money to put in retirement savings. The exchange is partly health benefits, partly financial, and partly emotional. It’s often the emotional trade off that is hardest to pinpoint as it means looking closely at our inner wounds. And it’s that emotional trade off that is often the most valuable piece of the exchange.
Backwards alchemy
In a book series I’m currently reading, there is a concept called “backwards alchemy”. This doesn’t refer to turning gold back into lead or speeding up the aging process (though apparently this is a potential side effect).
Backward Alchemy is a transformation using shortcuts to avoid putting in the time, effort, and intent of making a true change. In this book series, the backward alchemists are lazy and are seeking the elixir of life. They have found that their “equal exchange” is sacrificing another life to extend their own life. Of course, this results in an unstable outcome. Someone else’s life isn’t yours to exchange.
The Law of Equivalent Exchange
So let’s look at the law of equivalent exchange again.
When we want to transform ourselves, we must give up something of equal value. It may be time and effort practicing yoga or meditation to become a more calm and centered person. It may be time and effort running a mile or two each day to build up to running a marathon. It may be facing old traumas to overcome and create a positive mindset.
These things take time and effort. There are no true shortcuts to transformation. But the cost of that time and effort feels different, less difficult, when the pure intent is backing it up. When your intent is pure and fills your heart and soul, the exchange of what once felt valuable to you (binge watching tv and shutting off your mind, for example) is replaced by your new values outcome.
Just like when you purchase an item, the money you once had is no longer as important as the new item you’ve obtained. It was an equivalent exchange.
Alchemy’s most simple definition is “making the impure, pure”. Making matter into spirit.
If something in our life doesn’t feel “right”, it is impure. It’s not part of who you are at your core. So to shift from impure to pure, to remove those parts of us that “aren’t us” and become what “is us”, we transform, physically, mentally, and emotionally into our most authentic self. When we align our thoughts, feelings, and actions with our highest and most authentic self, we find the spirit in matter that is alchemical transmutation.
Human Design is about moving into alignment with who you’re not and remembering who you are at your essence. When you remember who you are and how you are designed to operate in the world, decisions come more easily and life opens up to you, revealing the opportunities you may have overlooked. Life simply flows.
You can now get your own free Human Design chart and more information about Human Design right on my website!