Bodywork and Alchemy

Ave,

So, I've made no bones about my interest in various healing systems. The further I grow in alchemical practice, the more important the physical body has become in my Work. I don't think people discuss this enough, or understand it well; the physical body and it's state are of incredible importance to your spiritual work.

An alchemical practice that includes some sort of regular relaxation/exercise/bodywork is far more effective than one that does not. Look no further than our Eastern brethren for evidence of that; their Neidan addresses the physical element in magnificent fashion (with body movements meant to relax the body and to stimulate the Internal fires). Don't think that the Western does not! I'm not at liberty to discuss what exactly the Western practices are, as this aspect of ours is still held under the Rose, but the fact of the body's importance is a public matter at this point. Alchemy that doesn't address this component is incomplete. It's been made clear by myself and any number of practicing Alchemists that the Prima Materia is the physical body. Preparing the Materia, the Temple, takes more than bathing and being pleasant.

It isn't a matter of being fat or thin, just so we're clear. General good health is of course important, but the spiritual potency that we work with Analogically in ceremonial magic are held within the physical body in the Direct work that is Alchemy. The condition of the Earth has a real impact. Applying the Hermetic Axiom makes this clear. Spiritual difficulties are held in the body, emotional issues and stresses are bound up and imprisoned within the muscle and ligament and bone, like the Titans of old.

The Inner Fires are not purely spiritual. You aren't imagining the sensations you feel when you set them alight. They are real, and they are held within the vessel you were blessed with at birth. Now, I'm not the first one to say that by any means--GH Fra LES has been pounding this point for years. This means that the "facts on the ground" are important for the development of these fires, and their work in calcining and refining the Body/Earth/Prima Materia.

A recent experience brought this whole thing home for me.

I study a martial art called Ku'i Lima Kenpo. It is an amalgam of Hawaiian Karate and Danzan Ryu Ju-jitsu, Hawaiian Lua, and Filipino Kadena de Mano. We have a healing method from one of our founding fathers--Professor Okazaki--called Seifukujitsu. It's a combination of Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi massage and traditional Japanese massage, and works directly on the body in order to manipulate the Inner-Fire. We cleanse the body of physical and Mana/LVX related toxins, removing muscular tension and stress-related dis-alignment. We have techniques for closing the Gates at the hands and feet, and for opening them. We have techniques for flushing impurities from the body, moving muscle and Mana. They don't call this Alchemy, but it is, of a sort; it's Alchemy you learn to work on other people. Projection, ya'll! Well. Of a Sort. Physical work that facilitates alchemical changes in another. With facility in manipulating the Fires, you can get things moving quite well. This is, in my opinion, the truth of the powder of Projection. It isn't primarily a substance made in an External Glass; you can certainly make it using analogical Materia, but only after you have it Internally. I've said before that External Alchemy as a separate path is an equivalent path to the Internal; I simply do not understand that to be the case, anymore. External Alchemy is valid and useful, but doesn't hold a candle to what can be accomplished with Internal Alchemy as a separate path. It is in the end a mirror, a Lunar work...if it is treated as a separate thing from the Inner Work. When they are done together, as simply Alchemy, then the External is very efficacious and the thing itself a Wonder. The External Work without the Internal is lifeless.

I had my first experience receiving and giving Seifukujitsu massage this weekend, and I was ASTONISHED at what occurred. I'm no slouch when it comes to moving the Fire; I found that after the massage, it was measurably and noticeably easier to do so. Just as the Hindu, Tibetan, and Chinese alchemists have said, physical stiffness in the body is an impediment to the rising of the sacred fires. The effects were tremendous, beyond even the general feeling of well-being. There is no separation between the Heavens and the Earth; by manipulating the flesh we can effect the emotional and spiritual parts of our beings as well. When I performed our first massage Kata on my partner, the effect was clear and powerful, on multiple levels. The body is the Prima Materia and the Stone is within it. Take care of the body! Get regular massage, exercise, and use that sauna/steam room. Get the body relaxed, release your cares, and be supple, "like unto a child", as Yeshua said. Then the Fire can move about freely.

So, consider your body. That was the lesson I learned. It is your god-given tool for the Great Work.