Viscom CM 235

Thus the alchemist has gained inner mastery over the lunar and solar currents of his soul, the feminine and masculine forces within his being, the yin and the yang, the Ida and Pingala Nadi's of Tantricism, and is no longer unconsciously moved and swayed by the external archetypes of King and Queen, but now bears these within his being as a conscious resource of the soul, energies that he can tap and use as he wills.

With this stage, the alchemist has achieved an experience of the White Stone, the inner foundation for working consciously with the lunar forces of his being, and he has also gained the Red Stone, the inner ground upon which he can solidly begin to work with the solar forces of his being. He thus stands upon the threshold of a higher and deeper experience of his being. However, these two Soul Tinctures or Stones, foundations upon which he can solidly stand in his inner encounter with the two force streams of his soul, do not incorporate the inner Mercury, the living and flowing energies of the soul, that we picture today as the unconscious, the mysterious dark inner source of the soul forces. The being of the alchemist during the hermaphrodite stages has dipped into this well of his being, but has never entirely penetrated deep into its mystery. However, this experience is necessary for the complete inner development of the alchemist, and it is pictured in illustration 18 as the Green Lion devouring the Sun. The sun here represents all that the alchemist has so diligently won for his consciousness, through working this process of inner development. The Green Lion is the devouring, dissolving aspect of the unconsciousness. (The alchemists drew here an analogy with Aqua Regia, the greenish tinged acid that alone could dissolve metallic Gold.)

The alchemist must be prepared to make this sacrifice of his conscious achievements to the dark well of his unconscious being, if he is to further the process of integration, for only in this way can he fully encompass this realm and unite the three streams that pour from the fountain into the vessel of the lower soul (Illustration 1).