Page 55 - A critical exposition of Jung's theory of alchemy

impulse which enters into the alchemical process at some important
stage”.

A third idea often conveyed by bird symbols is that of the
interaction of the volatile and the fixed. One bird might be tied to the
ground, or wingless, and another rises upwards, or the birds might fight,
one on top and one on the bottom.

Furthermore McLean insists that the meaning of a symbol can
change from text to text and that in alchemical plates the symbols are
not just units by themselves but can enter into relationship with each
other, and this relationship must be considered. Thus he suggests that
“the fusion into the hermaphrodite” in an emblem is “paralleled in other
domains pictured through the subsidiary symbols in the emblem. Thus
what is happening in the background or on the ground beneath is vitally
important for us understanding the symbolic force of the emblem”.
McLean points to some of the simpler of these relationships, such as
whether the images are in the left or right hand side of the picture, at the
top or the bottom, or being arranged to form a triangle, a square or so
on.

“Alchemical emblems are not textual information encoded in
symbols which can be precisely decrypted into a ‘meaning’, but they are
instead dynamic gateways, before which we can stand and allow
ourselves to enter into an inner dialogue with the imagery”. I would
suggest the same is true of dreams, - they are not texts to be decoded,
but presentations to be explored.

Even if McLean is wrong in his assertions, they do point at a more
complex exploration of the meaning of alchemical symbols than that
which is undertaken by Jung, and with the addition of both historical and
chemical explanation, might well prove greatly informative.

Conclusion

So what did Jung most obviously gain from alchemy?
It reinforced the idea that psychology was not about will. We have
to observe the work in progress, changing tack many times and not push
it to a pre-ordained conclusion. To be successful we have, like the
alchemists often said, to give up the desire to make gold in order to
make gold. The trend of alchemy is to allow things to manifest, and to
reveal their capacities. Things can be messy. Depression is not
necessarily to be avoided. Things can be dangerous. There is no fixed
order to the stages of the work The language of myth and symbol is an

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