Alchemy for Writers

 Greetings Covenmates ⚝

For our first letter of the alphabet for the Blogging A-Z Challenge, I'm going to get nerdy. Let's talk about alchemy!

For my undergrad I did a lot of work on depth psychology, a field that studies the way the unconscious mind influences our lives. Carl Jung's studies are a popular example of this. He's also who introduced me to the field of spiritual alchemy. Spiritual alchemy uses the process of turning metals to gold as a metaphor for the journey of life, the path towards self-understanding.

I became interested in using alchemy in my writing after reading Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader by John Granger. (I consider myself an amateur Potter Scholar. If you haven't heard of this, it's a thing, I swear. Look it up.) In it Granger discusses some of the alchemical influences in Harry Potter. Now, you might think that these alchemical links are coincidental, but they're definitely not. Rowling knew exactly what she was doing. 

"I've never wanted to be a witch. But an alchemist, now that's a different matter. To invent this wizard world, I've learned a ridiculous amount about alchemy." - JK Rowling

And she's not the only one! Many authors have used the alchemical process to plot their books, weave meaning into the story, and develop their characters. Using universal concepts that most humans on earth connect to on a collective unconscious level(as Jung would say) is one of the big secrets to creating stories that speak to people on a deeper level. Look at the following Harry Potter has. People truly connect to this world and Harry's journey, sometimes in a way even they don't truly understand. Like other myths and fairy tales, it's a universal story.

One of my dreams is to someday get my doctorate and write a dissertation on the use of alchemy, myth and fairy tale, depth psychology, the occult and the esoteric in literature and the writing process. I'd love to publish a writing craft book on the subject, and teach it to others. But for now, it's here on the blog for the select few of you who are as nerdy as I am. Might as well show my weird from the beginning!

❤ Katerina