006 - A New Alchemy

Hey, you.

Last episode we looked at the basic traits of each of the four primary Archetypes, both in their divided, oscillating unhealthy states, and their Kosmic stable healthy state.

(And Massara keeps reminding me to mention, there are many, many Archetypes - not just four.)

The first person to present the earliest known ideas of there being mythical Archetypes in the collective unconscious is Sabina Spielrein. On November 29, 1911, she presented her “On Transformation” lecture, (hinting at what Robert Moore later calls the Archetype of Initiation), and shares a part of her “Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being” article, published in 1912.

About forty years later, the woman Toni Wolff had suggested the structure of the Archetypes were four-fold, in her short 23 page sketch: “Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche”.

Both also happened to be the two women Carl Jung had affairs with and stole a number of ideas from.

But it appears pretty consistently across all cultures throughout history that the ones that comprise the “optimal individual” or Divine-Masculine-slash-Divine-Feminine each have four in perfect balance, holding the opposite accountable. Now you’re thinking “well if there are four for masculine and four for feminine, aren’t there eight?” Great question. No. Each Archetype is still itself, there’s no distinction between King energy and Queen energy for example; only Sovereign energy THROUGH either masculine or feminine. Etc. Continuing.

The concept of four elements: air, water, earth, and fire, is thought to have its origin with the Greek philosopher Empedocles - around 440 B.C. That was when Malachi, the last prophet in the Tanakh (the old testament, for Christians) was still around - two and a half thousand years ago.

Later, symbolic traits were given to each of those four elements so they could be used in theory around early alchemy, the precursor to chemistry.

I’m going to do something absolutely heretical and reimagine all the traits based off of observation. Imagine that. This is going to be my favorite episode for a long time, because we’re applying the four elements and their traits to the true, Kosmic design of each of the four primary Archetypes. If you like things that make sense and feel right, it’ll probably be yours too. Also this article is dense so I’ve broken it up into 6 mini-chapters; we’re almost through 1.

And as I had mentioned in article 3, my correspondence here in this model is cross-referenced across the structure of birth charts, the tree of life in Kabbalah, the four elements of alchemy, and all the crazy attention to detail that Dr. Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette put into the comprehensive research of these Archetypes. Please do your own research, I may have no idea what I’m talking about but on the other hand this has given me a lot of beautiful clarity and everyone I’ve told it to as well.

So I’m gonna start slow. Not because I think lowly of you, but because even now I get spun up lol.

Mini-Chapter 2

Based just off of observation:

• Warm means emotionally present, attractive, pleasant, bright, and round (meaning divergent, soft, and radiating).

• Cold means emotionally distant, unattractive, unpleasant, dark, and focused (meaning convergent, sharp, and surgical).

Those two are pretty obvious, commonly used analogies. We just get it. I don’t feel like I have to explain those any further.

The two slightly less intuitive qualities are:

• Dry, which means clean (like, sterile), formal, businessy, distant (like strategic level distance, also meaning focused on the GOAL), deliberate slowness, and density.

And…

• Wet, which means alive (like, fertile), casual, sloppy, close-ness (in space, like application level, also meaning focused on the PROCESS), impulsive speed, and volume.

And across those four elements, those four traits overlap. Warm and dry, warm and wet, cold and wet, cold and dry.

Mini-Chapter 3

Now, the word horizontal was named after the horizon, and the horizon on a birth chart is representative of everything on (or near) the surface of the earth - meaning all life as well, not just human life, but all life in the oceans, all plant life and fungal life, animal and insect life, etc. It has to do with the present moment, and that sounds identical to the Wet quality. For example: an empire that spreads itself Horizontally across the land too quickly is literally spreading itself too thin without enough substance to hold itself together. It’s obsessed with speed and impulsive volume.

Which makes the Vertical Axis the Dry Axis, responsible for vision forward and reflection backward, in service of a legacy. Isn’t it interesting that the symbol of legacy throughout the world has been tall statues? For example: To increase the density of an empire, you build Vertical. Skyscrapers are to MAKE space when the volume of a given space is maxed out. That makes the Vertical Quality or Substance, while the Horizontal is Quantity, or Space.

Being that both the Warrior and Lover help cultivate a sense of here-ness and now-ness, they’re definitely the two of the Horizontal Axis - always working on what to DO and HAVE, DO being Space and HAVE being Matter.

In the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, in my article 3, I mentioned the Lover takes the favored, benefic Right Hand, while the Warrior takes the structured, unpleasant Left Hand.

The Sovereign and Magician then take the Vertical Axis; the Sovereign above and Magician below - always cultivating the what to BECOME, since Becoming is an inward density, and relates to Time.

You Become in time, so you can Do in space, so you can Have in matter.

You cannot Have if you will not Do, and you cannot Do if you are not “the person” (Being) who can Do.

That credit goes to Myron Golden in his Analysis of Genesis. “In the beginning (Time), God created the Heavens (Space) and the Earth (Matter)” in that order. That’s the platform on which everything stands. dot dot dot, now here are the parameters, Gods command to Adam: BE = fruitful, DO multiply, do replenish, do subdue, HAVE = Dominion. The platform and the Parameters line up. Be, in time. Do, in Space. Have, in Matter.

Now, get this. Here’s where stuff picks up - at least for me.

Mini-Chapter 4

Those more simple and intuitive qualities of Warmth and Cold, now apply.

The Sovereign and the Lover are the two that deal with emotional intelligence, comfort, validation, Love, and generativity.

• With the Wet Warmth of the Lover, I picture an environment of hot, muggy rainforests, absolutely filthy, and abundant with life we’re still discovering even today.

• With the Dry Warmth of the Sovereign, I picture an environment of a clean, warm, wonderful smelling cozy spot in front of a fireplace, with some hot chocolate and a cat on your lap.

While the Warrior and Magician are the two that deal with effectiveness, accuracy, results and leverage.

• With the Wet Cold of the Warrior, I picture an environment of the visceral Navy SEALs BUD/S training - crawling through freezing mud, in the rain, at 2am; and life-threatening underwater exercises.

• With the Dry Cold of the Magician, I picture an environment like a hospital, loaded with sterile operating equipment and advanced tools - or an office building with documents and high-stakes negotiations on the top floor.

Now that all this has been covered, all that’s left is the assignment of each element.

Mini-Chapter 5

I won’t assume any of you have watched the movie “The Da Vinci Code” but one huge principle that was spread by ancient philosophers is this visualization of the masculine and feminine principles as the “Blade and Chalice” - One that is forceful and Dry, i.e. Masculine; and one that is receptive and Wet, i.e. Feminine.

The symbol of the Blade is like making a tent with your hands, like the letter A with no cross-member. The symbol of the Chalice is like making a capital letter Y, with your forearms together and hands pointing up and out.

• Historically, Fire has served as the first of the four elements because it’s the most ethereal and the most like Heaven. It’s the only of the four that’s alive, and it’s more immaterial than anyone had the ability to express at the time. Fire in the collective awareness has since stood for a symbol of ambition, vision, a source of guidance, protection and provision. For all of these traits, by far the best fit Archetype is that of the King. Tarot have used the Wand to represent the element of Fire, but that also complements the Kings Scepter. The King himself never DOES the work, his word is the law of the universe, quote “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” - Isaiah 55:11

• Earth, not the planet, has been obviously a huge symbol of stability and consistency; as well as stone walls for protection throughout history, and while the misuse of the Archetype of the Warrior has led to people believing Fire is more appropriate here, but the true Warrior in service of the Vision of the King is Cold and retrained. There is a tangible aura of resolve and steadiness. Nothing good ever comes from a hot-headed Warrior. Tarot have used the Pentacle to represent the element of Earth, which through multiple cultures would represent protection, and that’s what the Warrior does best.

• Air is a symbol for communication and freedom, both physically and in thought - since it’s been expressed that ideas themselves float in the air and we simply catch them. The constant dynamism and ethereal nature of Air have thus made it a constant representation of a mastery of the mind. Tarot have used the Sword to express intellect and decisive single action, obviously cutting was a huge example of that, whether the surgeons scalpel or the archers arrow. The Magician himself is the one who De-cides (De - meaning of/from, and -cide meaning to cut. Decision is to cut off all alternative options.) The WARRIOR is about binding, application, and the resolve to stick with the decisions and calculations the Magician has made in service of the Vision of the intuitive, gracious King & his Kingdom.

• Water is a symbol of both the fluidity and the depth of the ocean, as an analogy for the depth of the Soul and our capacity to feel and experience; much of which can be very dark - but water itself (along with light and warmth, from Fire) are staples for the absolute basic things Life needs. Without water, soil is just dirt; seeds are just soft rocks, nothing bears fruit and there is no richness to life. Originally in the alchemical symbolism, water would represent the Cold, but considering its’ actual function in service of the Kingdom, it’s quite Warm. 90% of all life on Earth gravitate to the ocean-side cities. Tarot have used the Cup, which is the only one that intuitively checks out, just like the Chalice.

So if we look at the Alchemical symbols of Fire 🜂 (which we now know is the Sovereign) and Air 🜁 (the Magician) together, both have the general shape of the Blade, meaning they have fundamental outward, i.e. Masculine traits; while Earth 🜃 (the Warrior) and Water 🜄 (the Lover) both have the general shape of the Chalice, meaning both have fundamental inward, i.e. Feminine traits.

Lastly:

Mini-Chapter 6

• The Warrior is receptive, “during Cold focused wartime”, from only the front line. Interpersonal boundaries. Very intense, whether actually on the front line, or as the sentinel for his family.

• The Lover is receptive, “during Warm divergent peacetime”, from alllll directions. All kinds of indulgences. Music, play, merriment and surplus lollygaggery.

• The Magician is outward, “during Cold focused wartime”, surgical and hyper-focuses on doing one thing at a time. Being in a flow state as some kind of analyst or scientist, being left alone to work on his next big world-changing trademark or project.

• The Sovereign is outward, “during Warm divergent peacetime”, loves to serve and provide for everyone in all directions. Santa Claus, absolute abundance, and zero concern for the budget. Generativity is knowing that as King, your job is service to all, and that by giving ten times the value you charge, you live in permanent abundance.

You just got through a lot.

Thank you for lending me your ear, this article was kind of a beast.

As you can tell, I absolutely love this stuff and I’m excited that as a precursor the foundation is finally set. (You could probably also stop here and your life will already have been changed permanently - should you apply this to the patterns you find)

But I trust you’ll stick around ;)

Talk to you next week.

We appreciate you.