Episode 11: The Alchemy of Religion
Riley, Christopher, and guest Morgan Aldous take you back to the true inner meaning of alchemy. That’s right, alchemy! If you are among those who think alchemy is just misguided proto-chemistry, you’re in for a big surprise! As Morgan put it, “While we tend to see alchemy as a primitive, mistaken form of chemistry that was redeemed by the Scientific Revolution, in reality, alchemy lost its sacred meaning and became mundane science.” While it’s true the Scientific Revolution took the exoteric (i.e., the outer) practices of the alchemists denuded from their esoteric (i.e, their inner) meaning and brought us many mundane conveniences we all take for granted today and seemingly couldn’t live without, we lost more than we gained in losing the esoteric meaning of those exoteric practices. For alchemists, the outer practices of alchemy were signs and symbols of deeper inner meanings. The gold the alchemists sought was not common gold. Morgan, Riley, and Christopher take you through both the esoteric and the exoteric meaning of alchemical practices from antiquity through the Renaissance and Reformation to the Restoration and current applications of alchemy, revealing lost inner meanings of the gospel’s ordinances from baptism and confirmation to the temple endowment and the marriage sealing. By elucidating the metaphoric language of alchemy, Morgan, Riley, and Christopher delve into alchemical symbolism not only in the above-mentioned ordinances along the covenant path, but in the story of the Brother of Jared in Book of Ether in particular, and in the Book of Mormon in general, and even in the person of the Savior himself, offering you the possibility a deeper, richer experience and understanding of gospel ordinances, the scriptures, and even the Savior Himself, as Morgan walks you step-by-step through an esoteric alchemical practice you can easily apply in your own spiritual practice to gain the benefit of alchemy in your personal relationship with the Savior in walking the covenant path back to your Father in Heaven. Walking the path to exaltation and eternal life is an alchemical practice. Understanding that elucidates and facilitates that path.
