what exactly *is* alchemy, anyway? + my new audio series

Very simply, alchemy is the ancient art (about 5000 years old at least) of transforming one kind of (common, basic, or even poisonous) substance...

.... into another kind of (rare, beautiful, or even healing) substance via a series of specific operations involving the separation and union of opposites.

The Alchemy Tree by Rebecca Rebouche

There's metallurgic alchemy, mineral alchemy, plant alchemy... there's physical alchemy that deals with the fluids of the body ...  

.... and then there's my specialty, the alchemy of the psyche, which is all about taking the stuff of ordinary awareness and emotion and evolving it into a kind of splendid, profound level of perception known as the Philosopher's Stone or (in the Hermetic Qabala), Tiphareth (beauty). 

You can click here to hear me discuss the finer particulars and a little bit more of the history of the subject here, on my new audio series The Alchemical Journey.

(Yeah, I could call it a "podcast" but I seem to have a weird creative block around 'podcasts' sooooo .... it's an audio series ;) )