Gurdjieff: Alchemy, Emerald Tablet, Contemplation, & Movements

[Paul Ferguson]

"Gurdjieff declared that when the alchemists spoke of transformation of base metals into precious ones, they signified the “transformation of coarse ‘hydrogens’ into finer ones in the human organism . . . ” to make souls. Scholars have somewhat rehabilitated this manner of interpretation for early modern alchemy. Further, Gurdjieff’s terminology owes much to strands in contemporary Western science which had been hailed by alchemists as vindicating their belief in the possibility of transmuting one element into another."

https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/publication...rald-azize