Stages of Alchemical Transformation
Winifred Hodge Rose
In The Alchemy of Hel, Part IV, I used the analogy of a wetland ecosystem to describe the spiritual-ecological functions that Hel serves, the role it plays in the spiritual health and well-being of all the Worlds upon the Tree. Here I will return to alchemical symbolism and processes in order to cast light on these functions from a different direction.
Alchemy is about transformation, both material / physical, and metaphysical transformation. This transformation is seen as a series of operations or processes, summed up in the Latin phrase solve et coagula: dissolve and coagulate or bring together. There are various schools of thought in alchemy that present the steps of this process in different ways, such as different numbers of steps, and differences in the order and methods by which they are carried out. The seven steps or stages I use here are the basic, traditional ones.
An interesting aspect of alchemy that makes it well-suited for our purpose is the very rich ‘library’ of symbolic images that traditional alchemy makes use of to communicate its mysteries: kings, queens, lions, mythical beasts—all portrayed in different colors, Sun, Moon, gardens, gems, metals, weapons, walls, gates, castles, and many more. The conceptual world of traditional alchemy is a fully-populated fairy-tale realm, among many other things, and all the beings and images in this realm are laden with mythical and symbolic significance. If you have read my full series of Hel-Dweller, The Soul and the Sea, and the Alchemy of Hel series, it should be very clear now, how well alchemy fits as a way to perceive and describe the nature and processes of Hel-world and its dwellers. Transformation, and the arising of images, are primary activities of Hel and the Saiwalos, in my understanding.
I’m going to return to something I mentioned in The Alchemy of Hel, Part I, because now the time is ripe to pursue that in more depth. The older view of alchemy held the belief that metals evolve, but only as long as they are underground, sequestered from the light of Sun and Moon, but exposed to chthonic (underground, underworld) forces. Thus, in this belief, lead goes through a series of transformations into various metals, and finally into the pinnacle of metallic evolution: gold. These transformational processes were also applied by alchemists to achieve other ‘states of perfection’ such as spagyric medicinals and states of health, as well as states of spiritual development and enlightenment. All of these various ‘states of perfection’ or ultimate development were considered equivalent to the ‘gold of the alchemists,’ and the ‘philosopher’s stone.’
The Chthonic Forces
Now, let’s take a look at Hel and its Saiwalos from this perspective. I wrote, in Part I, about my idea that Audhumla, the mythical cow of earliest beginnings, the Ur-Mother, transformed her body and self into the world of Hel. She herself came into being out of the salty ice that flowed out from Hvergelmir and coagulated within Ginnungagap: blown about, heated and cooled by the winds emanating from the poles of Fire and Ice at the two ends of the Gap. The giant Ymir was formed in the same space, then sacrificed and shaped into the Earth of Midgard. So in my view, these are the sources of the ‘chthonic energies’ which power the alchemical transformations of the underworlds: Audhumla and Ymir, who channel the forces of Fire, Ice, Ginnungagap, Hvergelmir and the Elivagar. (Buri also came from the same sources, but he is not a ‘chthonic’ or underworld power. Rather, he is the source of the overworld powers, the Gods of Asgard, though they are all blended with underworld powers as well, due to Jotun-ancestry.)
I discussed in Hel-Dweller how often Giants / Jotnar seem to be associated with the world of the dead and the underworld. Ymir was sacrificed and his-her body shaped into the Earth of Midgard. So Ymir and the Giants are associated both with physical earth / underground, and with the underworld of the dead. Another race of beings, the Dwarves, are also involved here. The Dwarves arose as energy-larvae (‘maggots’) feeding from Ymir’s body, then were transformed or transformed themselves into the tribe of Dwarves. (See my thoughts on this in The Alchemy of Hel, Part II.) Their domain is underground / underworld, they also are associated with the dead, and are even more strongly associated with gems, metals, treasures, and the skills and craft involved in obtaining and creating these things.
Thus, the Dwarves join Ymir, Audhumla and the Giants as chthonic powers. Ymir is ‘primal substance’, and the Giants descended from him-her are considered, like the Titans of Greek myth, to embody primal substance and primal powers of the Earth, including weather and the oceans. Dwarves are ‘consumers and shapers’ of primal substance, consuming Earth-energies and shaping Earth-substance into treasures. Audhumla is both the ‘primal substance’ of Hel, in my understanding, but also a primal shaper in her role as shaper of Buri, as well as her self-transformation into the world of Hel. Her shaping and transforming power is further shown through the spontaneous generation of Saiwalo souls out of her primal substance, and Hel / Saiwalos’ roles in transformation of images and spiritual waste-forms of the Worlds. Her influence on Hel and its dwellers is primary, but Ymir / Giants and Dwarves have their roles to play, as well.
In taking an alchemical perspective, we can think of all these beings and cosmic phenomena as emanators or representatives of energies which act upon the Hidden Land of Hel and its dwellers, the Saiwalos and their Dwimors. These energies have different effects, which we’ll examine here, step by step as they are carried out in a series of alchemical processes that result in transformation and evolution of the materials they are working upon: images and the energies associated with them, and the Dwimors themselves.
I should mention here that living humans who spiritually perceive events and beings in Hel, through dreams, visions, spirit-journeys, may perceive any of these stages of alchemical processes, and may interpret them in very individual ways. Our perceptions may pick up chaotic or un-interpretable scenes, images of stillness / darkness / emptiness where everything is happening imperceptibly beneath the surface, scenes of mystery and beauty, familiar scenes and persons, scenes that seem frightening, upsetting or unsettling. Though I describe the alchemical processes of Hel as a sequence of events in time, Hel does not experience time as we do in Midgard. These events can ‘be happening’, ‘have happened’, ‘will happen’, all at once, which makes it difficult for us to interpret what we perceive of Hel and its dwellers.
Differences between Hugrs and Saiwalo-Dwimors
A quick digression, before we proceed with the alchemical stages, because the question may come up: “I’ve been in contact with some of my departed ancestors, and they are not much like you’re describing here. What’s going on?” When living people contact departed ancestors and others they knew during life, or want to get to know after life, my sense is that it is usually the Hugr-souls who are the ones contacted, especially if the spirits they encounter seem very human-like, with personalities, emotions, thoughts, similar to those of living humans. Many Heathens enjoy having cozy, low-key ceremonies with ancestral spirits during holy days or any other time. I like to have what I call ‘a tea-party with my Disir’, laying out cups of tea for myself and for them, sitting with my Daybook, and writing down what comes to me as conversation and advice from these ancestresses.
Spirits who engage in these kinds of human-like, Midgard-like relationships and behaviors are, as I said, likely to be Hugrs of the departed. Saiwalos, Dwimors, and their environment of Hel have a different feel to them: imbued with mythic or fairy-tale overtones, archetypal, otherworldly characteristics, subtle and strange differences in light, color, sound, movement, etc., compared to what we are familiar with in Midgard. It’s harder to relate to them on a personal level. Though they have great depth, their depths are not those of character, personality, experience, thought, emotion, as we experience them in Midgard. In the ways I just listed, they may seem superficial or detached from our Midgard concerns, perhaps taking a mild interest, or engaging with us for a short time, but we get a sense that they really are not deeply engaged. This is very different from the Hugr-souls, who are fully engaged with the concerns of human Midgard life, whether they are embodied or disembodied.
There are some similarities and overlaps between Saiwalo and Hugr as well. Contact between either of them and our conscious mind can result in hidden, arcane, or mystical knowledge coming into our awareness through images and intuitions. Our imagination, working through our conscious mind, may ‘dress’ these contact-experiences as familiar scenes and images, or as eerie and unfamiliar. The other overlap between Saiwalo and Hugr is that much of our Hugr’s framework of thought is formed from images provided by Saiwalo-Dwimor. Hugr’s job is to evaluate these images and decide whether they are worthwhile and beneficial components of its framework of thought, or whether they need to be modified, or culled and removed. (See Soul Lore Study Guides 14 and 15 for more about Hugr’s framework of thought.)
The Alchemical Processes
Now let’s proceed with the step by step alchemical processes of Hel.
Calcination
Calcination is symbolized by Fire; it breaks down something into ashes or residue. The fission-fire of our Ferah-soul at the time of death separates our souls from our body, and the body is then burned to ash or decays in the ground. In mythical imagery, Ymir’s energy is that of ‘venom’ or corrosive force; this corrosion is fiery and breaks things down into their component parts, ashes, or residue. This corresponds to the death process of our soul-body complex, the sublimation of the Dwimor, and its departure from Midgard.
Dissolution
Dissolution is symbolized by Water, and involves dissolving the ashes of calcination in water or other liquid. In my view it comprises the actions of the Dwimor after death. Dwimor is released from the Lich and the other souls by Fire, and separates from them as an airy wraith, a phantom. But as it sinks into the underworld and returns to Hel, it cools, condenses, and becomes watery, and bears the treasure-hoard of images it has collected during life as suspended particles within its watery matrix. Thus, after the fiery separation and sublimation of death, Dwimor cools, sinks, and becomes a watery matrix containing the ashes or particles of its image-hoard.
This is an image of the Elivagar, the braided, twining ‘rivers’ of power which flow endlessly out of Hvergelmir, the cosmic wellspring. The Elivagar, back in the beginning of things, carried dissolved salt and venom within its flow, as I discussed in Part I, just as the Dwimor bears the dissolved particles of its image-hoard within its watery matrix.
Separation
This stage is associated with Air. Saiwalo is very much a shape-shifter, fluid of form, and takes on the likenesses of many different images as it pleases. At this point in our discussion we can envision the Saiwalo, awaiting the return of its Dwimor, as a landscape, a parcel of land that is formed of Saiwalo-stuff. Saiwalo sends out its song that echoes and reverberates across the Saiwalo-landscape like horns blowing among mountain crags, as its Dwimor slowly descends to a landing, there within the Saiwalo-landscape. During the descent, the vibrations of Saiwalo’s song cause the image-particles in the Dwimor to condense into larger, heavier complexes of images, to separate from the Dwimor, and to precipitate into the Saiwalo-land like rain or snow, watering and fertilizing it with image-energy. Whatever these imageries consist of, Saiwalo absorbs them and is ‘flavored’ with their energies.
This parallels the events in Ginnungagap, when the venom which was dissolved in the Elivagar precipitated out and formed Ymir, who took on the nature of venom. This process of separation is also one of the skills of the Dwarves, who must separate and refine precious metals from the ore in which they are bound, before they can make them into treasures. In the same way, our Hugr souls must sort, separate and clarify the images that it incorporates into our framework of thought.
Conjunction
This is a phase of recombination. The images that Dwimor has brought back and precipitated into Saiwalo mix and recombine with other imagery and energies already present in Saiwalo and in Hel. During this phase, Dwimor itself is reincorporated within its Saiwalo. Traditionally, this phase is considered to involve the union of opposites: male and female, light and dark, etc. In my perception, things are a great deal more complex in Hel, and in the world of images. Unions of opposites may well occur at this stage, but many other mixtures are possible, too. My image of what is happening at here is that of adding culture to milk, to make cheese or yogurt, or yeast to bread dough or to fruit juice to make wine. Things are mixed in that bring about change and transformation: the seeds of change.
The parallel cosmic action is Audhumla licking the salty ice within Ginnungagap, turning it into milk, and feeding Ymir and Buri, thus combining the primal elements within these three beings. The salt from Audhumla’s milk, which bears the seeds of transformation, became the salt in Ymir’s blood, which, after he was sacrificed, became the salty seas of Midgard. The salty sea is a powerful image of the Saiwalo soul, as I discuss in The Soul and the Sea.
Fermentation
Audhumla is a cow, a ruminant animal. Ruminants possess four hard-working stomachs, each involving different digestive processes, to turn tough, indigestible grasses into the fatty acids that provide them with energy and nourishment. Microbial fermentation plays the major role in this: in effect, a ruminant is an enclosed, walking wetland! Audhumla’s giant, bioactive stomachs power the wetland ecosystem functions of Hel that I discussed in Part IV of this series. I realize that this imagery is not very ‘spiritual’….what can I say? Heathen mythology tends to be very literal at times, and this imagery works, at least for me. This phase is associated with Earth, and the imagery here is definitely ‘earthy’!
So, in the previous step, ‘seeds of change’ or ‘microbial cultures’ were mixed in with the images and energies, and now the fermentation and wetland processes occur: breaking down, mutating, recombining, evolving, all the processes of transformation. Hel’s / Audhumla’s ecosystem is doing its work.
Distillation
Now the energies and imageries have gone through a process of fermentation and change. The next step is to distill and purify the resulting fermented mass. This is also the stage during which Saiwalo may begin the formation of a new Dwimor for its next association with Midgard life. This is a phase of Fire and Air, as the fermented mass is subjected to high energies that cause it to ‘boil’ and rise as steam, then condense into a purified form. The images that arise during this stage are mutated and transformed from their previous forms.
During this phase, the essence of the previous Dwimor, which was earlier reincorporated with its Saiwalo, begins to re-form as a shade within the landscape of its Saiwalo. Image-essences are distilled, which will become new treasures, powers, and arcane knowledge within the Hel-domain.
The cosmic analog of this phase is the Ahma-mist rising from Hvergelmir-fountain and distilling into the Ahma / Önd souls of humans and other beings. This stage also brings in the skills and powers of the Dwarves as they finish refining metals, gems, and arcane energies in preparation for the final formation of their beautiful and magical treasures.
Coagulation
This is the final step of the alchemical process, the gathering-together or crystallization of what has been burned, dissolved, separated, recombined, fermented, and distilled. It results in pure gold, in a crystalline jewel or stone, in a precious medicine or elixir, in a human spirit that has gone through great trials and been purified and integrated into a new form. In our study of Saiwalo, this stage results in transformed images capable of sparking new, original, beneficial ideas and behaviors among humans in Midgard.
This is when a new, salty Dwimor becomes fully crystallized out of the salt-water matrix of Saiwalo, and heads up to Midgard to join the Ferah-soul of a newly-conceived human, to begin the process of gathering all the other souls and their energies together within its crystalline, salty matrix.
The previous Dwimor is now fully re-formed, still very much a part of its Saiwalo, but possessing the appearance and surface characteristics of the human that it came from. If living humans—loved ones, descendants, etc.—manage to contact this Dwimor spiritually, they will perceive the form of the human being they knew and expect to see. The Dwimor may seem ‘wiser’ or ‘better’ than the original human in some ways, due to its evolution through these alchemical processes. Or it may seem little changed from what it was before, depending on many factors. Dwimor will go through multiple repetitions of these processes, as each new Dwimor its Saiwalo sends into Midgard returns and triggers a new round of transformations for the whole Saiwalo-landscape and all its indwelling Dwimors from previous lives. Thus, the Saiwalo-landscape becomes ever more populated by Dwimors from all previous lifetimes.
At this time, the re-formed Dwimor obtains its ‘adornments’ and ‘treasures’: treasure-images that have been distilled through these transformational processes and have grown in power and beauty. Thus, living humans who spiritually perceive the Dwimors within their Saiwalo-landscape will envision decorated feasting-halls, stores of treasure, and human shades adorned with precious garments, jewelry, weapons, and so forth. Adorned Dwimors may possess great beauty and take on the powerful attraction of a mystical ‘soul-mate’, which may in turn be projected onto a living human through our Saiwalo. Distilled and coagulated treasures of arcane knowledge are also produced during this phase, and may be imbedded into objects of magical power.
This is also when the arcane, necromantic knowledge rooted in Hel is shaped into something that living humans have some hope of understanding. It is necessary to provide a ‘seed-crystal’ around which this knowledge can coagulate, so it can take on a humanly comprehensible form. The seed-crystal is usually a question, asked by a living person, through an intermediary who may be a living spaewife or spaeman, a Deity or a helping Hugr-spirit. The question, and the powers and energies of the underworld, catalyze and coagulate relevant images drawn from the Saiwalos and crystallize them into an image-answer to the question. The image-answers may take visual form, or auditory form as a galdor or song, or other sensory forms.
Here is something to note, that links us back to the old tales about living people contacting Dwimors in Hel, as I described in Hel-Dweller. The Norse tales frequently envision that the dead are ‘asleep’ or out of touch in some way, and need to be called or even coerced through runes and magical spells into paying attention to what the living want. My interpretation of this observation is that Saiwalo-Dwimors in Hel are generally busy with their alchemical, ‘wetland’ processes; this is where their focus lies. If living people call or coerce them, Dwimors need to go through a process of shifting their attention, their energy, their appearance and ways of expression, and their plane of existence, in order to respond in a way that the living can perceive. It can take awhile, in terms of Midgard time-perception, for Saiwalo-Dwimor to make this happen. This creates the perception that the dead are asleep, and / or far away, and must be awoken in order to interact with the living.
The process of crystallizing knowledge can occur in another way, as well, in my experience. We can open our spiritual perception to our own Saiwalo (we do not walk into the widely populated domain of Hel itself) and walk into its hall or landscape, bearing with us a symbol or image of something that is deeply mysterious to us, and about which we wish to learn more. Words and verbal questions are not useful here within our own Saiwalo; visionary images (using any or all of our senses) are the medium of communication. Then we can take on the form of something that gathers and absorbs, like the soil of a landscape, a living sponge beneath the sea, a mountain meadow under a fall of snow, or a pool of water in the rain. We absorb the knowledge-essence that precipitates into us, and crystallize it within ourselves into an image that expresses this knowledge.
This is our knowledge-seed, our treasure, our philosopher’s stone, but though we bear it back with us into Midgard, it will not be immediately available to us. It’s wise to take our time and put this seed or image through the alchemical processes I’ve outlined here, perhaps repeatedly, in order to unpack its rich nuances, its treasures of knowledge and beauty. This is the process I’ve followed for years, to try to learn more of Hel and its mysteries.
Cosmically, with this step of the process we come full circle, back to Auðumla and her living transformation into the world of Hel, crystallizing Hel-world and its souls out of all the elements that went into her making, and providing the foundation for the ever-recycling processes of alchemical transformation undertaken by Hel and its Dwellers.