Early Alchemists & the Spiritual Artist

Image: The mind of the microcosm from Robert Fludd Utriusque cosmi... historia, 1619

Following up on yesterday’s post about the sacred in contemporary art, I’d like to say a few words about alchemy. Ancient alchemists sought to turn base metals such as lead into gold. But many people fail to realize that gold was not the main goal of their endeavors. A key tenet of alchemy is found in this phrase from the Emerald Tablet: “As above, so below”: the microcosm reflects the Macrocosm. By effecting change on a physical level, alchemists believed they were creating a corresponding change in their souls. The search to transmute or “perfect” matter into gold was really the search to perfect their own spiritual natures.

The alchemist and the spiritual artist are kindred spirits. We work through matter, whether it be clay, paint, or video, just as the alchemists did. We both change and transform matter, perfect it, to align with our visions. And finally, like the alchemists, it is our engagement with the material world that grounds us and gives us the ability to enter deeper into the Divine and be transformed ourselves.For more on alchemy check out the Alchemy Website. It is an amazing resource!