Calcination is the first stage of the alchemic process. It is usually represented by some sort of breaking down through burning, or crushing (as in wheat to make flour, or grapes to make wine) or breaking apart. Whatever the method, there is a release from the old form to a state of potentiality. What is revealed in Calcination is the essence of matter as pure and impure substances.

In one’s journey Calcination is a catalyst for change. This catalyst may be brought about by events beyond your control like a natural disaster, or when faced with a physical or mental health challenge, an addiction, or an accident. It may be brought about by a sudden change in a relationship, a loss of a job, a betrayal or loss of a loved one. What was once stable is now on shaky ground, whether it be a relationship, financial, political, or environmental. You feel vulnerable, even victimized and the future feels very uncertain. There is a loss of being in-control and it is disconcerting to say the least.

For others there is less trauma or drama but more of an emptiness, a longing for something more meaningful in life. The very meaning and joy in life has broken down. Depression and generalized anxiety often accompany this state. You can’t quite put your finger on it, and you struggle to express the feelings or even the reasons for these feelings. It feels soulful, at some sort of deeper level. You can feel guilty for failing to have something tangible, an excuse to justify your state of mind.

The symbolic picture we have assigned to Calcination is the crack in the canyon letting in light and Leonard Cohen’s quote, “there is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” Whatever the catalyst, the choice before you is either to resist the change or to follow the light that is meant to come through the crack. This can be very hard. The temptation is to be in denial or try whatever it takes to revert back to ‘normal’; to patch over the crack. However, the light is the promise of shedding a new light on the situation; a new light on how to acknowledge the breakdown as necessary to moving forward.

To follow the light that a breaking down offers is to be a seeker of yourself. It is the ‘awakening’ as catalyst for your journey of becoming. You awaken to this new potential of yourself coming through a personal storm.

Now the work of healing begins. After the breaking down and softening, purification begins. This stage is called Separation because in the alchemic tradition, this is when each of the base elements is separated from each other for examination. One-by-one each element is cleansed, and impure elements are removed. This is made possible as the softening done in the preceding Dissolution stage, rendered these elements malleable to change.

With respect to the alchemic application to soul work, this is when the impurities of the soul were identified and removed to lighten and enlighten the way to a more purified life.

Pictorially, we have chosen to represent this stage with the stacked stones. In forming this stacked structure, each stone must fit and be in balance with all the others. Each stone is separate but connected to the others to honour the wholeness of the structure. A stone that does not contribute to the integrity of the design, is carefully removed, or modified.

In “The Alchemy of Becoming” methodology, this is when you identify emotions that have become ‘trapped’ in your body. These trapped emotions compromise the healthy functioning of our bodies and our minds and generally impact our sense of worth and well-being. They contribute to dis-ease, habits and patterns in our life that do not serve us. The work here is to identify where we have trapped emotions that require releasing and clearing.

Understanding how this works starts with the acceptance that we are an open container of frequencies. We are an amalgam of different energy frequencies forming the living solids, liquids, and unseen subtle energies that comprise what we think of as our physical body. However, thoughts, emotions, and feelings comprise what is referred to as ‘subtle’ energies that animate our bodies. Emotions and feelings define who we are as individuated personalities. Some of these frequencies are high and others are low. Some frequencies in our ‘container’ are light and others are dense. The set point of the highs and lows is what is referred to as our unique ‘vibrational signature’.

These trapped emotions come from life experiences or past life experiences that have not been fully processed and released at the time they occurred. It is akin to scarring. The methodology is a process to identify these emotions one-by-one and remove the scarring. The memory giving rise to the trapped emotion is not removed but the scarring is completely healed. This is a powerful process of identifying low frequency emotions in a particular sequence, unique to you and is fully explained in Book 1. Those that have gone through this process are amazed at the mysterious way this is revealed and the actual physical and emotional feeling of lightness that comes with this work.

When the purified elements come together in the preceding Conjunction stage, they do so as a new unified form. But here, as a new form, elements that no longer serve the integrity of this new form become evident. Such elements could well have served a purpose in the old form but now they may not have a place. So it is at this stage that an additional method to purify was added. No longer are you purifying each separated element, but you are extracting what is superfluous to the whole new structure. This is the refinement called for in Fermentation.

To stimulate this process, an elixir is added to agitate the refinement. In the physical world these were agents like yeast added to the liquified grape to make wine, and in more modern times enzymes are used as transforming agents.

For the initiates of the Philosopher’s Stone, Fermentation was known to be a treacherous phase. Complacency often followed the Conjunction stage and if they did not find the elixir they often regressed and were doomed to repeat the first four stages. To ensure that this did not happen, the initiates sought this elixir through spiritual practices such as meditation and visioning ceremonies. It was through these deeply inward practices that they found the resolve to let go of what no longer served them in their new, more enlightened form.

In the Alchemy of Becoming methodology. It is life itself that becomes the elixir. In Conjunction you reorder and now in Fermentation it is your life that must be reordered to match your frequency upgrade. Life must entrain to you. Pictorially we have chosen to represent this stage with the outstretched arms of one embracing life as the grand elixir of the Fermentation stage. If you allow your former life to remain unchanged, it will pull you back down to its frequency. That is not to say that every relationship or commitment must change, but each major aspect of your life requires examination. It is not change for change sake, but to align to the new truth and integrity of self.

The Alchemic Foundation

This is the final stage of your alchemic journey at this level. This is the stage where everything you learn, every purification you undergo, every invitation to shift into higher frequency, integrates. This is the stage of embodiment, of bringing into body all that you have become through the work of this methodology. This is the embodiment of your new-found sovereignty and authenticity. You become one with the realignment of your expression of who you are as sovereign and authentic. It is not a final state but one that continuously evolves to fully live in this empowered state. You are ‘en-light-ened’ as in welcoming greater light, greater truth as embodied through your Being.

Purpose of this Stage

It is not sufficient to have undergone the work of the preceding six stages and not do the final and critical work to fully embody the process. This journey is designed to empower oneself through the learning, understanding and practices offered through this methodology. However, this final stage is to bring all that you have gifted to yourself through your work, into a unified entity of body, mind, and soul. The learning, understanding and practices you have undergone assimilate. They become internalized, seamless, and indistinguishable from who you are and by extension, through how life is an extension of yourself. Indeed, this is no longer life happening to you but life now emanating from within you as the higher frequency you now hold. The goal here is to embody higher frequency or higher consciousness. Embodiment is the completion of the transformation from ordinary to extraordinary. You, as becoming extraordinary in higher consciousness.

The process of embodiment takes intention, perseverance, and skill. The work at this stage, as provided in Book 1, is to bring awareness to the power of expression through your choice of words. Words transmute thoughts and learning into form. You empower thoughts through giving them words. Actions are based on the activation of words, whether directly from thoughts or through the spoken or written form of the words themselves. Words have universality through agreement to their meaning, but your choice of words is unique to you. You project a vibrational signature and a vibrational tone, both of which are unique to you. So how you express is an indication of the degree to which your level of consciousness is fully embodied as you.

Furthermore, there is a responsibility inherent in the choice of words. Words both inform and transform the world around you. Our presence in this physical 3-dimensional world anchors us in a persistent perception of separation. We think we can limit the impact of our thoughts to matter only to self, or that the impact of words can be confined to that or whom they are directed. Such is not the case in the reality of Oneness of collective consciousness.

The Experience

Sovereignty and authenticity are foundational to the progression to higher states of consciousness. You live your truth as sovereign and authentic. It is not someone else’s idea of truth or your worth but your ownership and responsibility to that essence of who you are. There are no excuses, nor blame, nor victim mentality. This is only the harmonious alignment between your inner and outer landscapes.

It is not easy to maintain one’s sense of authenticity in a world that strives for conformity and that is highly judgmental, drawn to drama and to a large extent controlled through fear. It is the path less travelled. Nonetheless, the paradox is that we are to honour the sacredness of inclusiveness. Our quest to embody higher consciousness must never be mistaken for being above anyone nor separate from the collective. We all are here by choice and there are lessons to be learned by each of us in honouring the level of consciousness we hold individually and as a collective. As we live our truth, we give permission for others to explore their own truths. As we express in authenticity, we give the freedom to others to live in theirs.