Alchemy 01 The Elements in Spiritual Growth

Every religion describes basic elements (air, fire, water, earth) as the basis of all manifested things, but few people realize that these are not literal, physical elements, but allegories of psychological and spiritual forces within us. Genuine spiritual awakening is based on harnessing and directing these forces within ourselves, and developing the Fifth Element, the "quintessence," (the kundalini) whose true nature was always kept secret, until now. "From Atman did space come into being; 
from space, air; 
from air, fire; 
from fire, the waters, 
from the waters, the earth; 
from the earth, plants; 
from plants, food; 
and from food, man..." - Taittirīya Upaniṣad "The Magi in their wisdom asserted that all creatures might be brought to one unified substance, which substance they affirm may, by purifications and purgations, attain to so high a degree of subtlety, such divine nature and occult property, as to work wonderful results. For they considered that by returning to the earth, and by a supreme magical separation, a certain perfect substance would come forth, which is at length, by many industrious and prolonged preparations, exalted and raised up above the range of vegetable substances into mineral, above mineral into metallic, and above perfect metallic substances into a perpetual and divine Quintessence, including in itself the essence of all celestial and terrestrial creatures." - Paracelsus, The Aurora of the Philosophers Read the lecture transcription.