Snapeshifter: The Woman who was Snape: Enlightenment Encrypted

I admit it: I'm a masochist.

Being a perfectionist is bad enough. But to take up a subject that forces you to embrace change, pain, death, and nonsense? Oh, and it takes not one, but many lifetimes to master?

What was I thinking?

And how could I possibly not?

Many spiritual teachings suggest that we're all on The Path, whether we like it or not. Eventually, we will get There. Where we are on that path, and whether we get There with more or less willing participation or are dragged There, kicking and screaming, is up to us. But there is no There, is there? Just as there is no "them" versus "us". We are Here, and All is Unity. Anything else is illusion, the forms through which we travel to discover our own truth.

Told you this subject was a bitch.

The Path to spiritual enlightenment has many metaphors among us humans, and one of them is Alchemy. I'm into science, art and magick, so it's no surprise I found my eventual way into exploring the Mother of Sciences (certainly, of chemistry). I'm just glad I started poking my nose into it as soon as I did! After all, to follow on my last post, Kronos isn't exactly resting.

My relaunch into all things magic got a boost last year on 11.11, and the very next day I began just, you know, surfing the web. Thanks to the Internet, we mystic seekers have access to ancient manuscripts, tomes of the Masters, and other information unthinkable even three decades ago.

Far from being a quack science, Alchemy was, and is, a spiritual practice. The art of turning base metals into gold is a metaphor for the refinement of the human soul, with the various stages of distillation, purification, coagulation and so on being steps in the process of that refinement. The art also had a healing branch, known as Spagyrics, of making remedies based on alchemical principles.

Of course, gold being what it is, unscrupulous people tried to appropriate Alchemy for purely material ends and outright greed. Furthermore, any sort of spiritual, knowledge-rich and/or power-commanding craft was quickly viewed with suspicion by the Church, up to the point of execution for heresy. To protect their secrets, Alchemists put their methods, ideas, and spiritual principles into code --- sometimes code designed to resemble mere material or chemical processes. Anyone trying to breach their secrets got lost in a maze of strange imagery and metaphor, to discourage all but the most masochistic from persisting. For those in the know, the meanings are revealed.

That night, I could hardly stop looking through stunning images parented over the centuries by studies of Alchemy, along with its partner Astrology, and general mysticism, in which I'm already immersed.

I felt akin, if only as a pale imitation, to the keenness of mind exhibited by a mage like Severus as he plumbed reams of ancient magickal knowledge and formulae. Without a living Master to guide me, I know I've a long way to go. But now, I must assert:
Why not?