Another week, another great astrology book published by The Wessex Astrologer. Alchemy: The Soul of Astrology by Clare Martin explores astrology through the lens of alchemy and alchemy through the lens of astrology and provides practical insights into both.

I loved this book. It’s beautifully illustrated with the strange images familiar to anyone interested in the esoteric discipline of alchemy. It reminded me of my earliest encounter with Jung when I dove headfirst into his Psychology and Alchemy. Back then I understood maybe half of it, or less, but had some wild dreams in the process!

Alchemy isn’t really about transforming actual lead into actual gold. It’s a symbolic language used to describe the process of self-transformation known as the Great Work – turning your inner lead into inner gold, or spiritual gold.

Clare Martin makes alchemy accessible and understandable and relates the process of the Great Work to the planets in the natal chart and how they work by transit. She explains the meaning of the essential elements of the alchemical process and its stages and explores the worldview that underpins alchemy and astrology: the system of correspondences related to the Hermetic idea of ‘as above, so below.’

The alchemical process starts with the prima materia, a state of undifferentiated chaos out of which rises the philosopher’s stone, or lapis, following the process of transformation. The birth chart represents both the prima materia and the lapis, the beginning and end of the work. It shows your potential for greater consciousness if you engage with the process of transformation.

That transformation takes place within the alembic, or container, as reflected by your birth chart. And the transits to your chart reveal the kairos, or the right time during which to undertake different aspects of the Great Work, as Martin says:

“alchemical processes can only proceed under the right astrological conditions.”

You can use the transits of the outer planets to transform yourself and gain insights into how your soul wants to manifest itself in this life. The pattern of transits to your chart reveals the timing of how your soul may unfold if you cooperate with it.

Each of the planets relates to a different stage of the Great Work: Saturn is coagulatio, Uranus is sublimatio, Pluto is calcinatio, and Neptune is solutio. The work involves separating the elements of the prima materia into spirit, soul and body, and then reuniting them at a ‘higher’ level. This includes the integration of the shadow and the balancing of the opposites in the process that Jung called individuation.

“One of the most important alchemical tasks was to rescue the soul from its flight into spirit, and to extract soul from its immersion in matter, from the confines of materialism, since it is not of matter, but acts upon it. Once this has been achieved, the task of the alchemist is to bring the three parts of the soul into a new synthesis…spiritualising what is otherwise dense and literal, and concretising that which is excessively intellectual or spiritual.”

This process obviously takes a long time – a lifetime – but by working with the outer planets we can make their energies more conscious and so free ourselves from the chaos of the prima materia, or the collective unconscious.

“For as long as we are unconsciously driven by the forces of the outer planets, we have no alternative but to function as conduits of mass thinking and collective ideologies (Uranus), to perpetrate an obsessive need for control and domination (Pluto), or to remain subjected to collective delusions and suffering (Neptune), all the while believing that we are functioning as individuals.”

You don’t have to look far to see evidence for these kinds of problems in the world right now. Most people don’t engage in the Great Work because it requires effort and discipline and time – in other words, Saturn.

You can only work consciously with the energies of the outer planets if you have a strong container – Saturn – and a willingness to take responsibility for yourself. It means coming into a full relationship with reality and allowing yourself to be transformed by consciously engaging with the process.

The Great Work can only be done within the individual soul – it can’t be lived through the collective in a vicarious way by the masses. Once you’ve completed the Work:

“Uranus is no longer transcendent or dissociated from human values, but has become the spiritual source of revelation and knowledge. Pluto is no longer dark, hidden or destructive, but becomes the seat of primordial wisdom accessed through the body, instincts and nature. Neptune no longer dissolves or undermines the individual, but finds personal expression through unconditional love and service to the joys of the creative imagination.”

This book provides an excellent starting point for understanding more about alchemy and how to work with your transits in a conscious way. I highly recommend it for all astrologers, especially those who want to get through the next few years without going bananas under the mini triangle transits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Alchemy: The Soul of Astrology is a small book but it’s densely packed with knowledge and insights – one to study and revisit many times. It may help if you already know a little about alchemy and/or Jung’s ideas. I don’t know how accessible it is to someone who knows nothing about either because I’m not that person so I can’t tell.

The book provides an extra dimension to working with archetypes and a psychological approach to transits and the natal chart, and offers a way to delve deeper into your own process while learning more about astrology too.

Image: Atalanta Fugiens Emblem 21

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