Page 38 - A critical exposition of Jung's theory of alchemy

symbolism of colours, because of the mention of the peacock, and a
discussion of the symbolism of Lions, of which Jung remarks that they
frequently appear after the dragon’s death, and that there are frequently
two lions (as is the case with many alchemical animals), sometimes one
is winged and the other wingless (ibid: 295-6, 298). The lion is often
identified with a hidden substance, and supposedly refers to those parts
of us which are considered the ‘animal’, or emotional layers (ibid: 296-
7). Eventually after discussing how female symbols in alchemy, and the
male mind more generally, can often be described as virgin, whore and
mother, he concludes that the Queen in the poem essentially eats herself,
and is enriched by knowledge of the unconscious (ibid: 307-10). The
poem and Jung’s analysis get somewhat confused at this point, but in
outline the King is reborn, while the Queen is kept shut in and heated,
and his limbs putrefy (ibid: 311-13). The Queen becomes a semi-divine
figure, Luna, somewhat like the Virgin Mary. The King is reborn, the
mother’s bed changes from square to ‘orbicular’, which Jung compares
to the squaring of the circle which he claims indicates perfection (ibid:
316). The King is raised to heaven (ibid: 316-17), and apparently
identified with Christ (ibid: 321-29). A new life is born in the alchemist.

Jung asks why if this text simply described a coded chemistry, does
the author climax his work in a way which could seem both ecstatic and
blasphemous? He implies that the answer is because the adept’s soul
grew in a work with a logic which goes beyond the logic of chemistry
and which is imposed upon chemistry (CW 14: 317-20). Jung’s
presentation does suggest that there might be a non-chemical process
going on here, even if just in the drive towards the use of particular
symbols, and in the pull of their associations. However, by ignoring the
other works of Ripley and by ignoring the possible chemistry underlying
Ripley’s work, he significantly weakens the strength of his case.

Stages of the Work

To some extent Jung argues that the stages of the alchemical work,
correspond to stages in the individuation process. He points out that
although the alchemists hardly ever agree on the course of the work -
which might be expected given the individual projections involved -
they originally described four stages:

Melanosis (Blackening)
Leukosis (Whitening)

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