Just what exactly is the Great Work?

[Gjallarhorn]

I've started looking into the alchemical Great Work and frankly I'm a bit lost. At best I can tell they are about 3 major phases and that Citrinitas is sort of undefined. Nigredo is the Dark Night of the Soul/confrontation with the Shadow, Albedo appears to be some sort of "table of correspondences" period where everything is seen as a dichotomy, and Rubedo is the wisdom that All is One. Cauda Pavonis (whose position in the Work I can't tell, whether it's supposed to be before, parallel and/or alternative to, or after Albedo) involves diverging from polarization into multi-faceted correspondences.

Did I miss something important or is that the gist?

 

[Willamena]

Jung wrote about the symbolism, interpreting it in a psycho-analytical light.

Psychologist Carl Jung is credited with interpreting the pseudo-scientific alchemical process as analogous to modern-day psychoanalysis. In the Jungian archetypal schema, nigredo is the Shadow; albedo refers to the anima and animus (contrasexual soul images); citrinitas is the wise old man (or woman) archetype; and rubedo is the Self archetype which has achieved wholeness.
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http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Al...8&qid=1404162209&sr=1-1&keywords=jung+alchemy

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[Gjallarhorn]

Jung wrote about the symbolism, interpreting it in a psycho-analytical light.


Amazon.com: Psychology and Alchemy (Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol.12) (9780691018317): C. G. Jung, Gerhard Adler, R. F.C. Hull: Books

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I've seen that, but I don't understand it. The Work is to be done in stages. It's not just a static bunch of archetypes.

 

[crossfire]

Try these alchemical stages: Calcinatio, Solutio, Coagulatio, Sublimato, Mortificatio, Separatio, and Coniunctio. Much more there than with the colors.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Try these alchemical stages: Calcinatio, Solutio, Coagulatio, Sublimato, Mortificatio, Separatio, and Coniunctio. Much more there than with the colors.

I've tried and have come to the conclusion that some people like to complicate things or obfuscate truth by allegory.

 

[crossfire]

I've tried and have come to the conclusion that some people like to complicate things or obfuscate truth by allegory.

Try this book:

Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy (Reality of the Psyche Series): Edward F. Edinger: 9780812690095: Amazon.com: Books

Edward Edinger goes through the processes, devoting a chapter to each process, with plenty of examples from Jung and cultural sources.

My thanks goes out to The Heathen for recommending Edinger to me.

 

[DreadFish]

Im not nearly as well read into alchemy but, my impression is that the Great Work is the symbolic transmutation of base metals into gold, i.e. the transmutation of basic mundane, profane being into that all-encompassing, infinite, pure blah blah thing which is our true nature that's symbolized by the ouroboros (it's early and im tired ). So the "Great Work" refers to this whole process.

 

[crossfire]

Im not nearly as well read into alchemy but, my impression is that the Great Work is the symbolic transmutation of base metals into gold, i.e. the transmutation of basic mundane, profane being into that all-encompassing, infinite, pure blah blah thing which is our true nature that's symbolized by the ouroboros (it's early and im tired ). So the "Great Work" refers to this whole process.

I would certainly say there is a psychological process involved in getting ouroboros to let go of glomping into its tail. To get an idea of the stress/suffering involved with a snake gone ouroboros, see this video. Warning: disturbing and graphic.

Stressed Out Snake Eats Itself | IFLScience

 

[DreadFish]

I would certainly say there is a psychological process involved in getting ouroboros to let go of glomping into its tail. To get an idea of the stress/suffering involved with a snake gone ouroboros, see this video. Warning: disturbing and graphic.

Stressed Out Snake Eats Itself | IFLScience

You're not supposed to get the snake to stop biting it's tale. Ouroboros symbolizes the infinite, the absolute nature of reality/our-self. The snake is continually eating it's tale and continually growing in an infinite cycle of creative renewal, there is no beginning or end. It's like the infinity symbol ∞.

Here, we can't apply a Buddhist understanding of the suffering involved in becoming; it's not the same idea as some limited identity continually becoming.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Have a look here
Theurgy - Part 1 of 2 - by Garstin
ars-theurgia.org

The term is also used, somewhat differently, in Thelema
Thelemapedia: The Encyclopedia of Thelema & Magick | The Great Work