The existing works on alchemy suggest that the Great Work, or Magnum. Opus, of spiritual and physical regeneration consists of seven or twelve stages, which are repeated over and over again until perfection is obtained. These stages are first done in the World of Plants and then in the World of Minerals. Some schools, including that of Paracelsus, propose that work can also be done in the animal realm; however, this idea is often shunned by many practitioners.
The stages are said to represent the ones that Nature herself went through during the beginnings of creation. They are also represented in the cosmos by the twelve signs of the zodiac and in the human organism by the seven major and five minor (for a total of twelve) psy- chospiritual centers called chakras in Sanskrit. These centers are also linked to the endocrine and nervous systems in human beings.
This linking of the stages of alchemy to the zodiac, as well as to the organs of the human body, was part of everyday medical practices during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. However, alchemy takes the associations one step further, in that they are applied not only to the physical body but to the energetic or etheric body as well. It is the etheric body that alchemical products seek to work on, and like acupuncture or homeopathy, this is what gives alchemy its healing powers. However, some alchemical products can also work on the psychic or astral body. These are often mineral products, and they give access to deep levels of spiritual initiation. Fortunately, as we will outline, there are some herbal products as well that can provide initiatic experiences, and these are also easy to produce.
By creating a product that acts on an organ, we can address physical health directly; this is the most basic feature of medical astrology. However, acting on a particular energy allows us to affect the etheric or energy body as well as the physical body. An alchemical product also acts through a specific psychic center and stimulates the psychic body, the etheric body, and the physical body with increased energy. As the energy circulates throughout the etheric energy system and the physical body through the bloodstream, all twelve phases of the alchemical process are replicated within the body itself, as well as in the etheric and astral bodies to varying degrees.
In this way, our physical, etheric, and psychic bodies become the living laboratories of the alchemical work. In and through them, we experience the results of our labors, and through intuition, we can be guided during the most difficult stages of the work.