Witchcraft and alchemy are two ancient practices that have captivated human imagination for centuries. While they may seem similar at first glance, they are actually quite distinct. Witchcraft is often associated with magic and sorcery, while alchemy is a precursor to modern chemistry. **Witchcraft**, also known as witchery or spellcraft, is the practice of magical abilities, often with the intention of using supernatural powers to influence events or people. Throughout history, those accused of witchcraft were often persecuted and feared, leading to widespread hysteria and witch hunts. In many cultures, witches are believed to have the ability to communicate with spirits, cast spells, and even curse or heal others.
Shortlisted for the 2021 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History
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In Magic , however, the Oxford professor of archaeology Chris Gosden restores magic to its essential place in the history of the world revealing it to be an enduring element of human behavior that plays an important role for individuals and cultures. Previously he was a curator and lecturer at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, where he encountered many magical objects displayed in a scientific manner.
In many cultures, witches are believed to have the ability to communicate with spirits, cast spells, and even curse or heal others. On the other hand, **alchemy** is an ancient philosophical and protoscientific tradition that aims to transform base materials into noble ones, such as turning metals into gold, and to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Alchemists believed in the concept of transmutation, the transformation and purification of substances to achieve their desired goals.
Witchcraft and alchemy
Alchemy, Witchcraft, and Magic:
New Looks at Old Archetypal ImagesHUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
ADA 1500
Division of Social and Behaviorial Sciences
Sullivan County Community College
Loch Sheldrake, New York
by Thomas Rue, M.A., Asst. Prof..
December 1989, 2004. All rights reserved.This article concerns those aspects of humanistic psychology, moral philosophy, religion and science which come together under the headings of alchemy, witchcraft, and magic.
These three words conjure archetypal images of mystic significance. This may be because their content relates to something in that part of the collective and individual psyche which students of Jung recognize as the shadow (Ulanov, 1977), defined as "the parts of oneself that one considers unpresentable, because they seem weak, socially unacceptable, or even evil" (Mattoon, 1981.)
von Franz (1964) pointed out: "The shadow is not necessarily always an opponent. In fact, [it] is exactly like any human being with whom one has to get along, sometimes by giving in, sometimes by resisting, sometimes by giving love -- whatever the situation requires. The shadow becomes hostile only when [it] is ignored or misunderstood.
Another writer has asserted:
Alchemical symbolism gives us numerous examples of the central archetype as a union of opposites. For example, the philosopher's stone, one of the goals of the alchemical process, was depicted as resulting from the marriage of the red king and the white queen, or from the union of sun and moon, fire and water. The product of such a union is a paradoxical image often described as hermaphroditic. Other images which are often used to express the union of opposites are the reconciliation of opposing partisan factions and the reconciliation of good and evil. " (Edinger, 1968.)
Other writers (Sadoul, 1972; Thompson, 1973) have addressed the archetypal significance of the concepts of alchemy and magic.
From ancient times, humanity's great thinkers have explained existence in terms of duality: androgyny, balance, homeostasis, and karma.
In severing the feminine principle from the Divine, traditions like Juaism, Christianity or Islam seem to deny the very essence of the spiral of Life. Early Greek, Roman, Minoan, Celtic, Native American, and other ancient cultures, reverenced goddess images (conceptual and tangible); a practice in which some find meaning and relevance today (Adler, 1986.)
The fiery and vengeful He-man God of Jerry Fallwell or Jim Baker, known variously as El, Y-H-V-H, Adonai, or the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- seems to some scholars to have been a deliberate corruption by patriarchal conspirators bent on deleting the feminine principle (Berger, 1985; Ranck, 1986; Rowan, 1978; Starhawk, 1979.)
Whether this "changing of the gods," as it has been called (Goldenberg, 1979), was calculated or the result of a neurotic psychic schism in the group consciousness, is both unknown and perhaps of interest more to historians than to psychologists. There is more than one theory concerning exactly when this epic transition took place, but some have postulated that it occurred somewhere around the time of the mythical King Arthur (Bradley, 1977.) Whenever the shift took place, in an age when nuclear destruction is a possibility reassessment of world views and ways of thingking seems essential.
The Goddess has been restored from her obscurity, evidenced by the popularity of such writers as Starhaw, Erica Jong, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Margot Adler (the granddaughter of Alfred Adler), and others, have given the pagan revival an identifiable presence among Unitarian Universalists, a mainstream religious denomination. Hundreds of independent neo-pagan groups exist in the United States alone (Adler, 1979), ranging from basic units called covens or other small groups designed for study and ritual practice, to national networks and organizations.
Finding local groups is sometimes difficult, but they are definitely out there. Most circles keep their profile in the community rather low, preferring to maintain their religious beliefs or spiritual practices a private matter. But many such groups -- such as, for example, the Covenant of the Goddess, Church Sanctuary, and the Church of All Worlds -- are incorporated and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt churches, thereby making the organization structures a matter of public record.
Ancient paganism is a diverse collection of venerable and not-so-venerable religions. Wicca is one branch of the current-day pagan movement. Modern heavy-metal music and American satanists borrow heavily from pre-Christian symbols such as the five-pointed pentagram, but closer examination reveals the ritual of the infamous Black Mass is a corruption of sacraments of the Catholic church (Gardner, 1959), rather than a vestige of the old religion. The inverted pentagram has become identified with negative elements, but witchcraft predates the idea of an adversarial "Satan" (Buckland, 1987.)
Even some who allege sensationally that "history's most notorious slayers have been controlled by the Occult (Steiger & Smith, 1979) admit:
A knowledge of the philosophies of cultist groups would enable a police officer to differentiate between a sincere witch who humbly follows the Horned God and the ways of the Old Religion, or a Flower Child who genuinely practices peace, love, and brotherhood and a self-indulgent, lazy-minded acidhead who distorts metaphysics to excuse his own self-serving appetites.
The two youthful criminals recently apprehended in Mamakating, New York, caught in the act by state troopers in their midnight excavation of a local cemetery (Emerson, 1989), and others like them, bear no connection to the neo-pagan movement described here.
However, as with most generalizations about the pagan community, there is room for legitimate disagreement with this. an article in the Wiccan newsletter (White Water, 1988) aroused controversy in at least one Philadelphia area coven when Satanists were acknowledge as the "problem children" of the pagan revival movement. But it is probably safe to say that nearly all Wiccans regard the Judeo-Christian personification of the evil principle as entirely foreign to their own worldview.
Some would argue that the creation by patriarchists of the Satan myth actually caused the type of hatred, intolerance and bigotry observed in religious fanaticism, the teachings of the Ku Klux Klan, or certain policies of the Third Reich. The God/Satan model encourages individual and groups to think of themselves as better, holier, or more deserving than their adversaries, or perhaps a member of a "chosen people."
The renewed appearance of the faces of Isis, Innana, Ceres, and Hekate in the contemporary pantheon offer restored means of aspiring to what Jung terms individuation (Mattoon, 1988) and Carl Rogers, self-actualization (Rogers, 1965.)
The concept among Celtic and other ancient peoples of a Triple Goddess -- maiden, mother, and crone -- long preceded the relatively modern concept of an all-male divine Trinity (Berger, 1985.) For example, the Greek goddess Hekate (Hecate) originally hailed from Asia Minor, where she was known as Caria. She was the goddess of the crossroads. In this capacity she was called Enodia or Troditis, and was depicted as three-headed or with three bodies (Lurker, 1984.) Her typology is observed in the three phases of the moon -- waxing, full, and waning (maiden, mother and crone.)
Another is embodied in the title of a contemporary book, Gaia: A new look at life on Earth (Lovelock, 1979), putting forth a revolutionary and simple explanation of the nature of life. Impregnated by Eros (the god of love), of Gaia were born the heavens and earth. "In art, her beneficient fecundity is often symbolized by attributes such as a cornucopia and the fruits of the soil" (Lurker, 1984.) She is the Eternal Mother, all but forgotten in our so-called Christian nation. She is the planet which gave us birth and to whose elements we will all return.
Pre-Columbian natives in the region of the Upper Delaware River reported "a creation myth involving a pregnant woman falling from the sky" (Goddard, 1978.)
In all, She will endure; She will heal herself of humanity's ills eventually, whether by fire or a less painful cleansing. While preferable to hope humanity will continue as part of Her cycles, that is up to the humans whose collective mind is Her consciousness.
In conclusion, iy is posited that the so-called "Old Religion" which is embodied in the neo-pagan movement involves a variety of healthy and positive views, which if they are accepted as true result a variety of personal blessings; and that principles inherent in paganism are applicable in the field pastoral counseling.
R E F E R E N C E S
Adler, M. (1986), Drawing down the moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-worshippers, and other pagans in America today , Boston: Beacon Press ("published under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America.") Berger, P. (1985), The Goddess obscured: Transformation of the Grain Protectress from goddess to saint , Boston: Beacon Press.
Bradley, M.Z. (1982), The mists of Avalon , New York: Ballantine Books.
Edinger, E.F. (1968), An outline of analytical psychology, Quadrant , Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology (Reprint #1), 1-12.
Emerson, J. (1989), Pair charged in grave robbing, Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY), Monday, January 2, p. 3.
Gardner, G.B. (1959), Meaning of witchcraft , Lakemont, Ga.: Copple House Books.
Goddard, I. (1978), s.v. "Delaware," in B.G. Trieger.
Handbook of North American Indians , Vol. 15, Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
Goldenberg, N.R. (1979), Changing of the gods: Feminism and the end of traditional religions , Boston: Beacon Press.
Jong, E. (1981), Witches, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Lovelock, J.E. (1979), Gaia: A new look at life on Earth , Oxford University Press.
Lurker, Manfred (1984), Dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Mattoon, M.A. (1981), Jungian psychology in perspective, New York: Free Press.
Ranck, S.A. (1986), Cakes for the queen of heaven , Boston: Beacon Press (10-lesson curriculum with filmstrip.)
Rogers, C.R. (1951), Client-centered therapy, Boseon: Houghton-Mifflin Co.
Rowan, J. (1987), The Horned God: Feminism and men as wounded and healing , London: Routeledge & Kegan Paul.
Starhawk [Simos, M.] (1982), Dreaming the dark: Magic, sex and politics, Boston: Beacon Press.
Steiger, B. and Smith W. (1971), Satan's assassins, New York: Lancer Books, Inc.
Sadoul, J. (1972), Alchemists and gold , New York: Putnam & Sons.
Thompson, C.J.S. (1973), The mysteries and secrets of magic , New York: Causway Books.
Ulanov, A.B. (1977), The witch archetype, a leture given to the Analytical Psychology Club of New York, 17 November 1976. In Quadrant , X:1 (5-22.)
von Franz, M.L. (1964), The process of individuation. In C.G. Jung and M.L. von Franz (eds.), Man and his symbols , Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
White Water (1988), Are satanists pagan?, Riverpath: A journal of pagan networking , Philadelphia Area Network of Old Religions, May issue.
L I N K
Rowan, John (1997), Healing the Male Psyche: Therapy as Initiation, London: Routledge.
Another is embodied in the title of a contemporary book, Gaia: A new look at life on Earth (Lovelock, 1979), putting forth a revolutionary and simple explanation of the nature of life. Impregnated by Eros (the god of love), of Gaia were born the heavens and earth. "In art, her beneficient fecundity is often symbolized by attributes such as a cornucopia and the fruits of the soil" (Lurker, 1984.) She is the Eternal Mother, all but forgotten in our so-called Christian nation. She is the planet which gave us birth and to whose elements we will all return.
Alchemy also included the pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance that was said to have extraordinary powers. Despite their differences, witchcraft and alchemy have similarities in their association with the mystical and the unknown. Both practices were often shrouded in secrecy, and practitioners were believed to possess hidden knowledge and powers that were beyond the understanding of ordinary people. Both witchcraft and alchemy were also heavily influenced by the societal and cultural beliefs of their time, with many of their practices and rituals varying across different regions and periods. In modern times, the practice of witchcraft has experienced a revival, with many individuals identifying as witches and following various pagan traditions. Wicca, a modern pagan religion, combines elements of witchcraft, nature worship, and mysticism. Alchemy, on the other hand, has evolved into modern chemistry, with its focus on understanding and manipulating chemical elements and compounds. In conclusion, witchcraft and alchemy are ancient practices that have inspired awe and fascination throughout history. While witchcraft is associated with magic and supernatural abilities, alchemy is a philosophical and scientific pursuit that seeks to transform substances and achieve enlightenment. Both practices have left a lasting impact on human culture and continue to captivate our imagination today..
Reviews for "The Alchemy of Transformation in Witchcraft Rituals"
1. John - 2/5 stars - I was really disappointed with "Witchcraft and alchemy". The book promised to explore the fascinating world of witchcraft and alchemy, but it fell flat. The author provided a shallow overview of the subjects without delving into any real depth. I was expecting a more detailed analysis and historical context, but instead, the book seemed more like a collection of random facts. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a comprehensive understanding of witchcraft and alchemy.
2. Sarah - 1/5 stars - "Witchcraft and alchemy" was a huge letdown for me. The book appeared to be well-researched, but the writing style was dry and confusing. The author often used technical jargon without adequately explaining the concepts, making it hard to follow along. Additionally, the structure of the book was disorganized, and the chapters seemed disjointed and lacking a clear progression. Overall, this book did not provide the engaging and informative read I was hoping for.
3. Lisa - 2/5 stars - As someone with a keen interest in witchcraft and alchemy, I found this book to be severely lacking. The information presented felt shallow and lacked depth. The author barely scratched the surface of these complex subjects, and I was left wanting more. I also found the writing to be unnecessarily convoluted, making it a difficult read. While the book did touch on some interesting historical anecdotes, it failed to offer any meaningful analysis or insights. I would recommend looking for other, more comprehensive books on the topic.