Alchemy - The art of Transmutation

The art of Alchemy is transmuting base metals into gold. However that is only its outward appearance. Alchemy is really about transmuting base human energies into valuable experiences. Human beings are energetic creatures by nature, there exists in all of us specific drives, such as the drive to eat, clothe ourselves, drink, procreate, be happy, to succeed. Some of these energies sometimes hinder others it seems. For example; Most people have a sex drive, which drives us to locate a partner to procreate with. This is a base, animalistic drive, since all life forms have this drive. From the smallest simplest life forms, to the most complex. The drive to have sex and procreate is one of the strongest drives known to humans. Next to the drive of eating and drinking, it is the strongest. Take an animal for instance, a cat. A cat spends all day trying to forge for food and drink, but at certain times of the month the cat spends most of its time looking for someone to mate with. Females go into heat driving males absolutely insane. Humans are no different really. We eat, drink, sleep and have sex. Truthfully the only reason we eat and drink is so we can stay alive to have sex. Sex therefore becomes the leading drive of all other drives. But what if that sexual energy could be transmuted into something of a more spiritual energy? What if it could be transmuted into finding our calling in life, or succeeding in some venture? Since this energy or drive is the most powerful, what if it could be transmuted into the most powerful drive in the world only stoppable by death? This is what I intend to find out. I will start with this drive and see where it takes me. I know that I alluded to this awhile back, and I did have some success. I could feel myself storing up energy for other things. What if by fulfilling our every drive we weaken ourselves so to speak? What if constant desire fulfillment actually was not beneficial for us and instead caused us to live comfortable, unfulfilled lives? I have seen this with my own two eyes; having been married now for many years, having a decent income that provides for my every need and many of my wants. Able to spend my sexual energy any time I want to, going only a day or so without it. Able to eat whatever I want, drink whatever I want, watch whatever I want, listen to whatever I want. Are these fulfillments truly good for us? Perhaps the ancient practices of fasting, and sexual abstinence is really good for us? Perhaps the ancient practice of fasting was not abstaining from food in order to please God and have him move in our lives, perhaps fasting is the practice of transmuting that energy into something else?
But what should we do with that energy? Is practicing these ancient arts beneficial without a goal? Should we work out first what it is we want, then transmute the energy to go out and obtain it? I think so. In Gnosticism one cannot properly transmute energy without a goal to use that energy on. What is it that you want? One must find this out first. This in itself can be a goal, to discover a goal. Could you use transmutation to find a goal? Of course. Finding a goal is a goal in itself. If one is lost, and needs guidance, practice the art of fasting or sexual transmutation to find it. These secrets are revealed to us in many ancient texts, including predominantly in the bible. Moses fasted for 40 days and nights and had such a powerful energy that when he came off the mountain he was glowing. Was he really glowing? Perhaps, perhaps this energy was the power of the transmuting of the food drive into something spiritual. Jesus also fasted for 40 days and nights. Afterwards he comes out of the wilderness and begins healing people. Jesus practiced this often. What did fasting do to aid in these things? It is also apparent that Jesus did not marry, nor have sex, but he was a man, was he not? Did he have a sex drive? It would seem pretty empty if he did not, he was after all man and all men have sex drives, unless they have been castrated. The bible tells us he was tempted in every way, this would seemingly include sexual urges. He was both God and man, and mankind has a sex drive. Was he able to transmute this sex drive into a more powerful energy? Was he able to live divine because he had superseded his animal like instincts? We see all throughout ancient texts where fasting has brought about amazing changes to individuals and their environment. Its almost as if those who have learned this art, have learned how to live like Gods.
But I think in order to properly channel this energy, one has to understand where these drives originate. Do they originate in our bodies, or our minds? I do not know the answer to these things yet, but my first instinct is to believe they begin in the mind. The mind being the central location for all thoughts and feelings. Without the mind, would we feel those urges? Would we feel hunger without the mind? Certainly not. But then one could ask, would we feel hunger without a stomach or a body which relies on the energy from food? Does the body tell the mind its hungry or does the mind tell the body? Either way, we can learn from this desire, this need, this drive. The same goes for sex. Does the body tell the mind its horny, or does the mind tell the body that its horny? Its obvious that we feel these urges in our bodies. When hungry our stomach growls, is that the stomach telling the mind that its hungry. When we are hungry we feel empty in our mid sections. Sometimes if we are two hungry we have a belly ache, our bodies get shaky, our blood sugars drop. Of course all of this is just our bodies trying to obtain food, but the body is not rational. It believes that it is dying just hours after eating. Therefore the mind, which is rational in most people, can relay to the body that it is not dying and can go weeks without food if needs be. The same goes for sexual energy. A teenage boy who has never had sex, at a certain age begins to secrete little doses of sperm, almost uncontrollably. Is this his bodies way of saying to the mind, I need to procreate? Perhaps. But none the less, the mind is where it is all processed, and what the case really is is that the mind, the conscious mind has the power to dictate to the body what it will or will not do. Even though the urges are powerful, which are animalistic, the mind which is divine is more powerful. The problem therefore lies with the people who are led by the desire of their flesh. Most people have not learned the power of the mind, that the mind is able to curve those desires. Could this be transmutation? The mind obtaining control over the animal instincts and using that energy drive into something else. If this is true, then it could be true that the body does tell the mind that it is hungry, or thirsty, or horny, the mind can either indulge the flesh or master it. Either way, it is the drive of the body, which produces energy within us, the mind is the central command area, which leads the body to fulfill its urges or not. No matter the state of the person, unless absolutely unable to move due to sickness or handicap the drive to fulfill an urge is what gives us energy to do so, energy being exactly what it means, energy to get up and find something to eat, or something to drink, or a partner to have sex with. For example, when I feel hungry, I get up off the couch and go to the pantry to search for something to eat. This is energy. The same goes for sexual drive, if one is feeling the urge to have sex, they will do one of two things; masturbate to relieve the urge, which is still energy usage, or search for a partner, of which there are many ways of doing. So transmutation is the curving of that energy into other things. If I am hungry, the drive to eat can be transmuted into an energy to search for answers instead of food. It could be used to seek out answers from God in the form of reading spiritual texts, or meditating in prayer. The same could be said about sex, except that sexual energy is a more forceful energy, which could be used to actually energize us into action. People have gone way out of their way in search of sexual relief. There are examples of this sexual energy being put forth into action. In sports, many coaches ask that their players abstain from sex for a while before a big game, this way they have a near superior strength than their opposition. This has been proven to work. Same goes for men in battle. In battle men may go long periods of time without sex, and being around other men, is not the best place to masturbate, so there is stored up sexual energy at work here, which at some point stops being a drive to have sex, but a drive to accomplish something else, like a victory.
When the urge to have sex grows in a person, it could be that their physical energy increases, perhaps more than if they had taken a vitamin B shot. Men seem to get weaker as they get older, mostly due to a lack of testosterone, which is the sex drive. Could it be that is because they spend all their sexual energy on their wives, and can have sex pretty much whenever they want? Take middle aged men who's wives are prudes, and who barely have sex with their husbands. A lot of these men almost seem to revert into a teenage boy again, trying to chase down an affair. Many get fast cars in order to appeal to their potential affairs.
In conclusion, I want to remind myself and the potential reader that if you do not have a goal to transmute these energies into, it may almost be useless to try. However, remember seeking a goal is a goal in itself, so transmuting energy to find a goal, a purpose is beneficial. Perhaps fasting would be the best way to find a goal, it takes an urge to eat and transmutes it into an energy to seek. Once the goal is found, sexual energy can therefore be transmuted into action energy, to fulfill the goal. Either way, have fun with it, enjoy the process.


ADDED 2/21/12 - On another note, one I had not included, the urge to have sex at its most elemental root is the urge really to create, since sex equals creation, the creation of a new life form. So, this desire to create can be transmuted into other aspects of creating. For example in creating a new story, a new painting, a new technology, something beneficial to all of mankind. Creation comes in many forms, but its most elemental form is to create life.

Back to Alchemy however, Alchemy was the hidden art of transforming base metals into Gold. But what was alchemy really? Alchemy was the practice of dialectical logic. It took two base arguments, and mixed them together to make a more perfect truth, such as the practice of taking two base metals and mixing them with other materials to make gold. In dialectical logic you take two opposing arguments, and begin to chip away at their useless points, until you reach a synthesis, a more perfect truth. For example, the two opposing arguments that the universe came from something, and the counter argument that the universe came from nothing. How could you synthesize these two arguments to come up with the truth? We could say that the answer is 'becoming' that the universe is becoming. This is the alchemical art of dialectical logic which was hidden behind the guise of transforming base metals into gold. When alchemy first came on the scene it was because of the catholic inquisition, which regarded anyone who tried to use logic instead of church cannon to form a truth, as a heretic, and they were severely punished. However under the guise of transforming base metals into gold only intrigued the greedy catholic hierarchy who thought they could prosper from these alchemists. Sneaky it was.