Editing Alchemy (section)

=== Psychology ===
[[Alchemical symbol]]ism has been important in [[analytical psychology]] and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist [[Carl Jung|Carl Gustav Jung]]. Jung was initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images but after being given a copy of ''[[The Secret of the Golden Flower]]'', a Chinese alchemical text translated by his friend [[Richard Wilhelm (sinologist)|Richard Wilhelm]], he discovered a direct correlation or parallel between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the inner, symbolic images coming up in his patients' dreams, visions, or fantasies. He observed these alchemical images occurring during the psychic process of transformation, a process that Jung called "[[individuation]]". Specifically, he regarded the conjuring up of images of [[philosopher's stone|gold or Lapis]] as symbolic expressions of the origin and goal of this "process of individuation".<ref name="Jung, C. G. 1944">Jung, C. G. (1944). Psychology and Alchemy (2nd ed. 1968 Collected Works Vol. 12 {{ISBN|0-691-01831-6}}). London: Routledge. E.g. §&nbsp;41, §&nbsp;116, §&nbsp;427, §&nbsp;431, §&nbsp;448.</ref><ref name="Eisendrath-Dawson" /> Together with his alchemical ''mystica soror'' (mystical sister) Jungian Swiss analyst [[Marie-Louise von Franz]], Jung began collecting old alchemical texts, compiled a [[lexicon]] of key phrases with cross-references,<ref>Anthony Stevens: ''On Jung.'' (A new and authoritiative introduction to Jung's life and thought), Penguin Books, London 1990, {{ISBN|0-14-012494-2}}, p. 193.</ref> and pored over them. The volumes of work he wrote shed new light onto understanding the art of [[transubstantiation]] and renewed alchemy's popularity as a symbolic process of coming into wholeness as a human being where opposites are brought into contact and inner and outer, spirit and matter are reunited in the ''[[hieros gamos]]'', or divine marriage. His writings are influential in general [[psychology]], but especially to those who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams, symbols, and the unconscious archetypal forces ([[Jungian archetypes|archetypes]]) that comprise all psychic life.<ref name="Eisendrath-Dawson">[[Polly Young-Eisendrath]], Terence Dawson. ''The Cambridge companion to Jung.'' Cambridge University Press. 1997. p.33</ref><ref>C.G. Jung Preface to [[Richard Wilhelm (sinologist)|Richard Wilhelm]]'s translation of the [[I Ching]].</ref><ref>C.-G. Jung Preface to the translation of [[Secret of the Golden Flower|The Secret of The Golden Flower]].</ref>

Both [[Marie-Louise von Franz|von Franz]] and [[Carl Jung|Jung]] have contributed significantly to the subject and work of alchemy and its continued presence in psychology as well as contemporary culture. Among the volumes Jung wrote on alchemy, his magnum opus is Volume 14 of his Collected Works, ''[[Mysterium Coniunctionis]]''.