A short reflexion about the Mother Archetype in Alchemy.
Most of the processes described in old texts, and even recipes, often say to cook for a long time. It is also said to not hurry, and to cook slowly.
Aurora Consurgens
The image that is given is related to the nature of the fire used in the first regimen, nigredo, depicted as a hen incubating its eggs. We find the image in Aurora Consurgens, and Flamel.
Our uterus, womb, is the Athanor, a green house, and we, Alchemists patiently wait, and watch over our egg, regulating the fire, observing the colours and the forms that can take the matter, we react in consequences if the fire is too slow or too hot, we graduate the fire accordingly to the signs given by the "baby" stone.
M.Maïer, Atalanta Fugiens.
This archetype must be developed in ourself, in our psyche, our anima part must be delt with and accepted, nourished and enhanced. I mostly speak for men here since very few women practice. It's maybe easier for them, I don't know.
We have to incarnate and develop this archetype of "philosopical mother", the Baby Rebis is a white and a red, two but one, with a shell, whe have ton consider it as a whole, because in Alchemy, 1 + 1 = 1. This is also seeing that in ourself, we are double, and one in the same time.
Roger Bacon in his Mirror of Alchemy, speaks of the mountains, of the fire from below, slowly maturating the metals by a long coction. There is no other regimen of fire he says. And he's right of course.
I want to point out here the fact that the combined fire + egg, + oven creates the Nature's action of the Universal Mother, the perpetual pregnancy, milking, cooking, hatching ... Nature is "big", and thus the "Mother is Big", and this is how the old traditions saw her, as a big mama.
When an Alchemist watch over the Philosophical Egg he becomes a mother too.
But beware to not become a "A hen mother", "Une mère poule", a french expression to designate a hatching mother - stifling, posessive, intrusive mother - a burden, that in fact, by its presence, do not give "air", or space for the evolution of the matter.
It needs space to grow, to fly, to condense, to circulate. You don't have to interact too much with the process, doing more than your part. You just have to watch, be present, act when needed. Not acting when not needed. Otherwise, you become intrusive and an obstacle.
We also need to give time to time, time to the process and not hurry anything.
We have to know exactly what part, what role we have to play in this process, and not crossing the line, in our own risks.
