Fire: Spiritual Trickster
By Raïna Manuel-Paris
We cannot talk about fire without talking about alchemy and Carl Jung. The famous Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology started studying alchemy in earnest at the age of fifty-three. According to Peter O’Connor, the author of the book Understanding Jung, Understanding Yourself, Jung’s interest in alchemy was aroused after reading a German translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower, an ancient Taoist text on meditation that Jung hailed as the link between the insights of the East and his own psychological research.
The Golden Flower is also known as the Elixir of Life. The Taoists developed techniques (meditation, breathing exercises, diet) that were thought to confer immortality by internal alchemy. According to The Secret of the Golden Flower, “…the way to the Elixir of Life knows as supreme magic, seed-water, spirit-fire and thought-earth.” The elements of water, fire, and earth are common amongst the different elemental frameworks found in the East and the West. One could call them foundational.
The Golden Flower is also known as the Elixir of Life. The Taoists developed techniques (meditation, breathing exercises, diet) that were thought to confer immortality by internal alchemy. According to The Secret of the Golden Flower, “…the way to the Elixir of Life knows as supreme magic, seed-water, spirit-fire and thought-earth.” The elements of water, fire, and earth are common amongst the different elemental frameworks found in the East and the West. One could call them foundational.
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