11.4.24

Thought

The thing I like to compare it to, in my own attempt to understand it all, is painting. The artist has a frame that is noncommittal – it’s kind of void – and he projects something of his own imaginative creation into that by way of paints. It’s important to him whether this color is here and that color over there is in exactly that place. And it isn’t always just reproducing as a camera might; it’s something of his own spirit that’s put forth, and it bounces back to him, telling something about his inner spirit.

Well, the alchemist used metals and various chemical substances in a way the painter uses paint; and his retort, is, as it were, the canvas. By dropping certain substances into the retort and watching them send up mists and so on, he activated his own imagination. And through that, he brought up, into the field of his consciousness, potentialities from his more unconscious system.

– Joseph Campbell, An Open Life  

Quote

Marcel Duchamp on alchemy: 

“Alchemy is a kind of philosophy, a kind of thinking that leads to a way of understanding.”

Moment of Gratitude

I’m grateful for quality time with family.

What are you grateful for today? 

Happy Monday,

Val