A hands-on guide to advanced spiritual transformation through the combined sacred arts of alchemy and shamanism

• Recasts the 7 stages of the alchemical “Great Work” as a transformative shamanic journey and initiatic experience

• Provides step-by-step instructions for 18 shamanic alchemy practices for inner transformation, including vibrational energy work, consciousness-altering techniques, the creation of mirrors of the mind, and sacred ceremonies tied to the four elements

• Explores the alchemical plant-medicine techniques of spagyrics, as well as recipes for basic tinctures and “plant-stones”

Offering a unique, hands-on guide to advanced self-transformation, James Endredy shows how traditional shamanic techniques offer a doorway into the sacred art of alchemy, the inner transformation of the soul.

Revealing the practical and intuitive connections between shamanism and alchemy, including not only Western alchemy but also alchemical practices from the East, Endredy recasts the 7 stages of the alchemical “Great Work” as a transformative shamanic journey and initiatic experience. He provides step-by-step instructions for 18 shamanic alchemy practices for inner transformation, including vibrational energy work, consciousness-altering techniques, the creation of mirrors of the mind, shamanic viewing, and sacred ceremonies tied to the four elements. Exploring the healing art of spagyrics, the author shows how this alchemical plant-medicine practice is receptive to the energetic work of traditional shamanic techniques. He details formulations for distilling shamanic spagyric remedies, as well as recipes for basic tinctures and “plant-stones.” He also discusses the creation of sacred space, altars, and shamanic distillation lodges.

Comparing shamanic and alchemical cosmologies, the author explains how both shamanism and alchemy employ direct experience of the numinous and invisible worlds, also known as gnosis, to impart wisdom, invoke peace of mind, and increase creativity and vitality. Showing how the practical vibrational science of alchemy and the consciousness-transforming techniques of shamanism directly enhance and expand upon each other, Endredy also reveals how they have the same ultimate goals: to allow the practitioner to transmute spiritual lead into gold and to penetrate the deep secrets of life and of nature.

James Endredy is a practicing shaman of Hungarian descent who learned his craft from formal initiations with the peyote shamans of Mexico and through 30 years of living with and learning from shamanic cultures in North and South America. He is actively involved in preserving historic alchemy texts as well as the world’s indigenous cultures and sacred sites. The award-winning author of several books, including Advanced Shamanism, Teachings of the Peyote Shamans, Ecoshamanism, and Earthwalks for Body and Spirit, he lives in California.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Alchemy and Shamanism--Tools of Transformation

PART ONE
HISTORY, TERMS, AND THEORY OF ALCHEMY
1 The Dawn of Alchemy
2 A Distilled Lexicon of Alchemy
3 Shamanic and Alchemical Cosmologies

PART TWO
PRAXIS FUNDAMENTALS
4 Initiation and Theurgy
Praxis 1: Developing an Integrated State of Consciousness
Praxis 2: Phase-Conjugate Mirrors of the Mind
Praxis 3: Direct Shamanic Viewing--Targets Other Than People
Praxis 4: Bringing Forth the Sacred Fire

5 Shamanic Spagyrics
Praxis 5: Dissolution and Separation
Praxis 6: Calcination
Praxis 7: Conjunction--Unifying the Whole
Praxis 8: Fermentation
Praxis 9: Distillation for Purification
Praxis 10: Charging Shamanic Water
Praxis 11: Herbal Distillation for a Shamanic Elixir

PART THREE
THE SEVEN STAGES OF SHAMANIC ALCHEMY TRANSFORMATION
The Azoth of Basil Valentine

6 Stage One: Calcination--Fire
Praxis 12: Sacred Fire Ceremony---Death of the Profane

7 Stage Two: Dissolution---Water
Praxis 13: Sacred Water Ceremony--Dissolving the Chains

8 Stage Three: Separation
Praxis 14: Separation--Counterpractice

9 Stage Four: Conjunction
Praxis 15: Pilgrimage to Sacred Sites

10 Stage Five: Fermentation
Praxis 16: Shamanic Fermentation by Solitary Quest

11 Stage Six: Distillation
Praxis 17: Shamanic Alchemy Distillation Bath

12 Stage Seven: Coagulation
Praxis 18: Coagulation of the Astral Body--The Alchemic Altar of Center

Epilogue: What’s Next?

Notes

Bibliography

Index