The alchemists tried not only to change base metals into gold but also rejuvenate their bodies, integrate their personalities, and perfect the very essence of our souls. Although they spoke of retorts, furnaces, and chemicals, they were really talking about synchronous transformation taking place in their own bodies, minds, and souls. Alchemy can be defined most simply as the “art of transformation.” It is concerned with the underlying principles of how things change and the basic process of transforming one thing into another. The most popular reason for studying alchemy today is to reconnect with the fundamental spiritual realities in the universe. In this approach to alchemy, the gold of the alchemist is not the common gold but an inner spiritual gold, and the operations of alchemy are performed in the inner laboratory of the spirit and soul.
