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Sixth Stage - Distillation
DISTILLATION is the sixth major operation in the alchemy of transformation.
Chemically, it is the boiling and condensation of the fermented solution to increase its purity, such as takes place in the distilling of wine to make brandy. In the Arcanum Experiment, Distillation is represented by a compound known as Black Pulvis Solaris, which is made by mixing black antimony with purified sulfur. The two immediately clump together to make what the alchemists called a bezoar, a kind of sublimated solid that forms in the intestines and brain.
Psychologically, Distillation is the agitation and sublimation of psychic forces is necessary to ensure that no impurities from the inflated ego or deeply submerged id are incorporated into the next and final stage. Personal Distillation consists of a variety of introspective techniques that raise the content of the psyche to the highest level possible, free from sentimentality and emotions, cut off even from one’s personal identity. Distillation is the purification of the unborn Self ¾ all that we truly are and can be.
Physiologically, Distillation is raising the life force repeatedly from the lower regions in the cauldron of the body to the brain (what Oriental alchemists called the Circulation of the Light), where it eventually becomes a wondrous solidifying light full of power. Distillation is said to culminate in the Third Eye area of the forehead, at the level of the pituitary and pineal glands, in the Brow or Silver Chakra.
In Society, the Distillation experience is expressed as science and objective experimentation. On the Planetary level, Distillation is the realization of the power of higher love, as the life force on the entire planet gradually seeks to become one force in nature based on a shared vision of Truth.
CORRESPONDENCES OF DISTILLATION
- According to the Emerald Tablet, during the Distillation process, "It rises from Earth to Heaven and descends again to Earth, thereby combining within Itself the powers of both the Above and the Below."
- Substance: Mercury.
- Color: Deep Blue.
- Planet: Mercury.
- Metal: Silver.
» Seventh Stage of Alchemical Transformation
From the Book "The Emerald Tablet"
The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation
by Dennis William Hauck
The Emerald Tablet--an ancient document that contains the essence of the alchemical teachings--has had an important influence on many Western spiritual and religious traditions. Ostensibly concerned with turning base metals into gold, alchemy was in fact dedicated to transforming the lead of self into the gold of spirit.