Daniel Seifert asked Stefan Emunds:

It sounds like you thrive with a deep inquisitive spirit. One of the current streams moving my way is an interest in alchemy with recent readings of Carl Jung. Would you have any recommendations (authors, texts) for someone with the intention of reading about this topic? thanks, Dan Seifert

Stefan Emunds Dan, allow me to define first how I understand Alchemy. As I see it, Alchemy is the Yoga of the West and aims at transforming the natural body into what I call 'miracle body' in some of my books. Everything else is 'Chemistry'. Unfortunately, Alchemy isn't my strength. I have focussed my studies on Hermetic Qabalah, Tarot and Astrology. I find Alchemical symbolism hard to digest, also it overlaps with Astrology which leads to confusion. For example, in Alchemy Mercury symbolizes superconsciousness, while in Astrology Mercury stands for self-consciousness. Please don't feel discouraged, it's a matter of taste! I didn't manage to finish a single Alchemical book, but I skimmed through many, taking bits and pieces of wisdom from each. I also researched some Chinese Alchemy on the Internet, which turned out to be enlightening, e. g. the Chinese element cycle. I played with that here: http://godchild.buzz/five-element-cycle. I can't recommend a particular book, but Jung is worth reading, as well as Paracelsus, Nundinus, Bondinus, Medales, Basil Valentine, Thomas Vaughan, Jacob Boehme, Porphyry, Jean d’Espagnet (!), and Arthephius.

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