Dabrowski and Alchemy

Connections between ancient alchemy and the theory of positive disintegration

Alchemy and Dąbrowski. What a weird and whimsical whopper of a topic… 

Alchemy is quite the magical subject on its own. But if we perform a little hocus pocus, we might just make the theory of positive disintegration appear out of our hats. Follow my fluffy white tail down the road of speculation, and see whether or not you think positive disintegration might have some very ancient alchemical roots. 

Conversely, presto change-o, we might see that ancient alchemists were messing about with more than primitive chemistry, and were in fact wielding the inner transformative power of positive disintegration.

Alchemical Origins

Alchemy was supposedly a chemical process of transmutation – turning “base metals” like lead into either pure gold or an elixir of immortality (purported to cure any ill). Sometimes, it was said to produce the philosopher’s stone, which performed both those functions.

Esoteric, mysterious, and the forerunner of modern chemistry, it’s been around for an exceedingly long time. It sprung up in ancient China, India, the Middle East, Egypt and Europe. It also had a revival in Medieval Europe, and it’s this influence which still persists in popular culture. 

All branches/cultures of alchemy emerged independently, with their own strong religious and philosophical underpinnings. The Western flavours of alchemy are influenced by Greek philosophers like Aristotle, whereas the Chinese alchemists were influenced by Taoism. Oddly, there seems to be no common origin or common philosophies, and nothing indicating geographical migration of information. The only common element is the pursuit of transmutation.

Wherever you look in history, it was quite esoteric, and the knowledge was well guarded. So, within any surviving written records, there’s a lot of symbolism and allegory. Lots of animals, weird shapes, and symbols are used as metaphors for stages of the alchemical process, ingredients, and elements. This was to prevent the process being discovered by those who are “unworthy” of it.

Alchemical Process

There are four main stages to the alchemical process: 

• the black stage, or breaking down of the original matter (often lead or other metals)

• the white stage, or purification of the broken down elements 

• the yellow stage, or “chemical wedding” of male and female elements—things start to recombine and rebuild into something new 

• the red stage, or rebirth, where the final “gold” or “immortal elixir” emerges

(Note the yellow stage ended up becoming a subset of the red stage, so some versions only have black, white, and red.)

These processes had a focus on balancing and using the four elements (fire, air, water, and earth) and celebrated the joining of opposite natures (male and female, sulphur and mercury). It used several scientific methods like fermentation, applying heat, dissolving things, chemically separating things, and reconstituting things. Basically, it was both old-school chemistry and a lesson in ancient philosophy at the same time. More to the point, it was a solitary process of discovery for a singular practitioner interested in changing the world around them.

Alchemical Purpose

Now, here’s the kicker—nobody knows whether or not it is an actual scientific process, or a metaphorical process for spiritual enlightenment and transformation of the self. Some say it’s both—by performing the scientific “ritual”, one performs transformation on both the material and the self. Was the “gold” the alchemist sought real gold, or his enlightened mind? Did the elixir cure physical ills, or psychological ones? Was the name “philosopher’s” stone a clue? Even the role of the alchemist, which described someone who sought higher knowledge, wishing to transform things by their own hands (in a gruelling test of individual skill and wisdom), could also describe someone seeking enlightenment.

Because this whole thing can be applied to the transformation of the self—you break down, you purify, and you rebuild—it also pops up in literature analysis a lot, too, as it describes common character arcs. It’s very similar to the Hero’s Journey in many ways. Storytelling often leans on alchemy symbols like the toad, wolf, lion, and phoenix when describing characters going through transformative experiences.

How many fictional stories have you seen where the protagonist falls apart (suffers a cruel defeat, or crisis of faith), goes through an ordeal of purification or enlightenment, only to reemerge as a true hero? Black, white, and red, folks, and it appears in everything from Shakespeare to Pratchett.

Alchemical Disintegration

But to me, the really interesting thing is that this process is oddly parallel to the theory of positive disintegration. The whole process of disintegrating (breaking down), sorting (cleansing), and rebuilding (rebirthing) your values is the essence of TPD.

So how could Dąbrowski and the alchemists have all come up with such similar ideas?

If I was a speculative person with a wild imagination (which I am) and had no qualifications in anything (which I don’t), I could possibly have a wild stab in the dark (which I will) without risking my academic reputation (which I don’t have). So here it goes…

Describing inner transformation is to describe something which humans have been doing for centuries. I’m sure people have been going through disintegration long before they had any real idea of what it was they were experiencing.

The aspects of personality growth that Dąbrowski saw were no doubt seen by keen minds in the distant past. But Dąbrowski had the benefit of years of psychological and psychiatric research, and modern philosophy to lean on to formulate his theory, as well as the same ancient philosophies of the original alchemists. He could form a full theory in modern terms.

Perhaps alchemists were observing similar transformations and phenomena in their peers or themselves, hundreds of years ago, and had to articulate their ideas without the knowledge of modern science. Powerful inner journeys that left them rattled, enlightened, and feeling completely changed, but without an explanation at that time. They probably did see a certain magic in it because their limited knowledge of psychology couldn’t adequately explain such an intense and complex experience. 

Ancient Transformation

Alchemists probably documented it the best way they could, through bizarre symbolism, that only a scientifically curious mind could decipher. Because, at that time, only the clever and educated could have made any damned sense out of a disintegration without losing their minds.

The chemical process itself was probably executed—even if it never resulted in actual gold or immortality. Faffing about with chemistry, and seeing that even the toughest metals like lead could be broken down and changed irrevocably… well it would have been quite the lesson in just how powerful transformation can be, and how a single person can bring it about under the right conditions. And if you can change lead, you can change anything, including your own soul.

Both alchemy and TPD concern themselves with philosophical, religious, and corporeal matters. They both talk about the transformation of self. Both describe changing “what is”, into “what ought to be”, through the dedication and determination of an individual on a solemn quest. Both have rewards at the end of the process—pure gold and a way to cure what ails you.

Most notably, both describe a process whereby real change, and real value, are found not through incremental growth. It is found by first disintegrating everything which once was, in order to cleanse and sort the disparate components, before reforming something completely new. 

Alchemical Secrets

Would such information be something to be widely shared in ancient times, or would it have been hidden in secret? 

Consider the nature of alchemy—it is not a religious devotion, act of obedience, or practice of fealty. It is a personal journey by one practitioner to seek to transform “what is” into “what ought to be”. Making riches from nothing, or brewing up immortality, is akin to playing god. But even when it comes to creating your own values and authentic personality, and seeking a personal enlightenment, I’m sure it would have been considered tampering with nature.

Remember that this was well before popular atheism, nihilism, and existentialism. People taking control of their own lives (and snatching their souls out of the hands of the gods) wasn’t very common. In antiquity, when many pagan gods ruled, and worship was pretty free-form, maybe it wasn’t so important to hide your alchemical work. But come Medieval times, when Christianity reigned supreme, I could fully imagine the pursuit of enlightenment through science, and attempting to formulate one’s own set of values, was seen as absolute heresy.

The secrets of inner transformation were coded and buried well for the smartest, most determined, and most independently-minded individuals to discover. In understanding that all matter in this chemical processes could be completely broken down, purified, and re-synthesised in a totally different form by his own hands, the alchemist could unlock the secrets to their own inner transformation.

Abra Cadabra

I’m willing to speculate that not only were ancient alchemists describing positive disintegration, but they considered the experience so powerful, life changing, and enlightening, that they carefully guarded their secrets for hundreds of years.

Is it any wonder that psychologists like Jung had a keen interest in alchemy? Jung became interested in the symbolism as a way to make sense of dreams, and eventually went on to write about it in books like ‘Psychology and Alchemy’. 

Dąbrowski, through studying Jung, no doubt inherited some alchemical influence, and both Western alchemy and the theory of positive disintegration share roots in Greek philosophy.

So, alchemy and Dąbrowski are definitely connected. No, it’s not some weird form of blogger’s sorcery I just pulled. But I bet you thought (when I started this post) that I was making this whole thing up, didn’t you? That I was just pulling rabbits out of my ass, and not my hat? Hey, presto—the connection is real! 

Magic, huh?