Alchemy, Comedy, Tragedy
Humans are creatures of wonder and madness, the concepts on which the edifice of our world is built. We’re born with a personal “magic” of mind that makes us all different, makes our lives harder or easier, that can become either good or evil.
There’s no explanation for why magic works, it’s just the ethereal creation of something palpable. In fact, magic only works if there’s a catalyst for its energy to occur, as with the alchemy of our own ideas….
Ideas cast spells on our hearts, and thus wield the power to transform us as we encounter them, into someone new.
Q: If we can’t see ideas, how do we define or encounter them?
A: Ideas are best defined indirectly, through artistic or social expression, encountered via perception of their personal effects.
“Aesthetic” being the impetus of social history and of individual life is a similar concept to that of the alchemists: there’s power within us, derived from pure primordial fluid, flowing from a tap of creativity which transcends time.
In fact, alchemy has always been a language for how one can conjure ideas.
Since ancient Greece, Comedy and Tragedy have been prominent in “spellcasting” our moral and aesthetic standards:
Comedy is a type of art that allows for the expression of a universal moral code, yet remains individual and personal.
Tragedy confronts the reality that no matter how good one is, so that the individual must grapple against the fate of the universe.
The following is my best explanation for why modes of expressive creation (like comedy and tragedy) develop analogous to alchemical transmutation:
Alchemy is divided into two complementary fields of study: esoteric, and exoteric study. Hermes Trismegistus is a major pseudepigraphic figure which appears among the literature of both, who’s often associated with Thoth: the god of the moon, magic, sacred texts, math, alchemy, and of the sciences….
Esoteric alchemy is more spiritual, aesthetic, occult.
Exoteric alchemy is entirely practical, scientific, and more willing to share knowledge with the world.
Alchemy isn’t just about transmutation of prime elements, but things like plants, trees, creatures, and ideas; it’s about how to think and control the forces of your world and mind.
Alchemy, comedy, tragedy, are all a matter of faith and belief in a person and/or idea, the same way you believe that gravity exists and space rotates around you, or that corn grows in fluffy soil….
Life isn’t about being able to prove that universal forces exist, nor that there are or aren’t things worth believing in: Life is defined in comedy and tragedy, casting spells of wonder and madness from one’s own pure energy….
