Mandala Calcinatio

Mandala Calcinatio
Colored pencil + metallic gel pen
20” x 16”

“Calcinatio” – Latin – Calcination; the first of the 7 major operations of the alchemical Magnum Opus (Great Work). Chemically and literally speaking, calcination is the process of reducing a substance to ash by applying heat via open flame. Fire is a high vibration element capable of purifying and restoring many elements, both literally and figuratively.

Psychologically, calcination is the process of breaking or burning down the ego, or the false self that is created through materialism, selfish desires, fears, addictions and ignorance. This often happens naturally to people as they become older and face trying times of depression or stress. However, the alchemist recognizes the value of this process and applies it in his life through his Will in order to continue evolving mentally and spiritually during his current physical existence.

Fire itself is the element of Will, and to the alchemist, the process of calcination is a “controlled burn” upon his Ego, in order to ignite the fiery passion of his Soul. It is to burn away the artificial mental constructs to reveal the true nature of our Self at its most fundamental level.

This process is not supposed to be pleasant. It can be a very painful process when one is too attached to the material illusions the Ego tricks us with. It can be applied to each of the other elements: Air (Intellect); Water (Emotions); Earth (Body); and Quintessence (Spirit) in order to purify and evolve each level of Being.

The painfulness is represented at the center of this drawing, with the alchemist holding his severed head over an open flame as he screams and winces in agony. The smoke from the burning Ego seeps from his Third Eye and fills the square-shape he sits inside. This square design is symbolic of a temple in traditional Eastern mandala art. This temple is of course metaphorical as well, for this fleshy vessel our Spirit resides in.

Written around the temple is “Igne Natura Renovatur Integra” which is a Latin alchemical axiom meaning “By fire, nature is restored in its purity”. The acronym for this axiom, “INRI”, is well-known among Christians as a reference to “Ieusus Nazarenus, Rex Ludaeorum” which means “Jesus, King of the Jews”. Considering the countless alchemical metaphors in the Bible, I don’t think this is a coincidence. But this is a whole other topic 

Outside of the inner section of the adult alchemist is a more youthful version of the man as he appears to explode like a newborn star in space while continuing with his calcination process. He is much more comfortable and relaxed during this as he peers down to himself. This youthfulness is representative of how Calcination allows us to revert back to our child-like mindset of exploration, adventure, wonderment and love. He is holding both ends of a dragon and using it to continue applying Fire, as well as a new liquid substance labeled “Vitriol”.

Vitriol was a very mysterious substance for modern chemists and scientists who relied on older alchemical writings and art in order to understand literal science. The modern left-brained scientists were convinced the alchemists were either delusional idiots who didn’t know what they were talking about, or that Vitriol was just a metaphor for an imaginary, conceptual substance. But Vitriol, which is still a word used today in modern science, is actually an acronym.

“Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem” is Latin for “Visit the interior of Earth, and by rectification you will find the Hidden Stone”. This goes even deeper into the less-literal, as it is referring to going within yourself.

In the calcination process, Vitriol is created with sulphuric acid which is corrosive to all substances except gold. In the Great Work, the goal is to transmute the base metals (Lead) of the unpure Ego/Self to Gold. The symbol for Lead is seen in the circle by the dragon’s head.

The dragon is symbolic of a few things. Calcination as depicted in this art is primarily explained via European alchemy, but alchemy is all over the world and much more advanced and aged in the Eastern world. In the East, the dragon is the Kundalini energy that travels up the spine through 7 chakras in order to achieve enlightenment. These 7 chakras are the same, although different representations, of the 7 operations of the Great Work. Calcination is aligned with the Root or Muladhara chakra as it deals with grounding (his red pants represent this chakra). The kundalini dragon resides in the base chakra until it is awakened to rise up to the Crown chakra.

In Western teachings, the dragon is ever present as well. We all remember the medieval stories of knights slaying or subduing dragons, but like many old tales, we don’t realize the deeper meanings they have. I could go on for a long time about dragon symbolism, but here I’ll shorten it up and just explain that he is in control of what the dragon is doing, the dragon is not attacking him, he has subdued the dragon. The alchemist does not kill or slay a dragon, he subdues it, because he sees its worth in aiding him in his evolution and uses it to his advantage. Those who metaphorically “slay their dragon” remain stuck in materiality as it essentially “kills” the kundalini energy, or the alchemical Fire of passion and ferocity.

Written on the dragon’s scales at the bottom of the drawing is “Solve et Coagula” which is another Latin alchemy maxim translating to “Dissolve and Coagulate”. Chemically speaking, it’s the process of dissolving a substance to its pure base form, and then re-solidifying it by adding Vitriol. Metaphorically, this is representative of the destruction and re-building of the Ego or psyche in general.

The top four circles from left to right contain symbols for: Aries, the Monad, Lead, and Sagittarius. Aries has qualities on both the positive and negative polarities that correspond with the calcination process. Positively, it consists of leadership, courage, innovation, drive, openness, action- and adventure-orientated, while negatively it rules egoism, pride, foolhardiness, jealousy, vanity, violence, selfishness and possessiveness. Sagittarius is compatible with Aries. Positive polarity is generosity, altruism, fearlessness and self-reliance, with negative polarity being overconfidence, inconsistency, bluntness and brashness.

The Monad is a symbol made up of other symbols. It represents the culmination of energies from Sol, Aries, Taurus, and the 4 elements, and each of these individual symbols can be seen as parts of the Monad. This is another long topic on its own.

The bottom 3 circles from left to right are references to Tarot cards: The Magician (I), Justice (VIII) and The Devil (XV). Again, I could branch off on another long article on the significance of these Arcana, as well as the symbolism behind the Hebrew characters associated with them, but for the sake of brevity I will simply explain their correlation with the Calcination process. The Magician is essentially the Alchemist in his best and highest form, and the Devil represents Ego. The Magician (5-point star UP symbolizing a human ascending) combined with the Devil (5-point star DOWN symbolizing a human descending) create Justice which can be depicted as the classic weighing scales, similar to the Taoist Yin-Yang in a way, but with the implication of the Magician defeating or subduing the Devil in order to create the harmonious balance.

Outside the main mandala section are two Phoenix, intended to be male and female. The Phoenix is yet another cross-cultural reference to the Fire of Spirit and Will or the Kundalini energy. It was popularized in ancient Egypt although it has been seen in art all over the globe over the millennia. The “Rising of the Phoenix” as many of us have heard is actually a metaphor for the rising of this energy in order to begin the Calcination process.

Finally, you can see the Moon, Sun and Saturn surrounding everything. The moon is symbolic of reflection as it reflects the sunlight. The alchemist applies introspection and reflection often as a major tool of evolution. Without reflection, humans would still be acting as primitives. Reflection is especially important for Calcination, as you need to take an honest look at yourself from an outside view in order to know what you need to “burn”. The Sun is pretty self-explanatory between its obvious symbolism of Fire, Light and Source. Saturn is the planet that rules Death, Harvesting, Focus, Change and Rebirth. It represents a facilitation of energy, the active application or transformation of Thought to Action. These 3 are connected to form a triangle, which brings us back to Fire, as the triangle is the alchemical symbol for Fire.

I hope that I made this relatively easy to understand. They say a picture is worth 1000 words, but I had to make an effort to shorten this up to 1400, and this is just the first operation of the Great Work! Check out the first few comments below to see some medieval artwork that depicts the Calcination process as I have here.