Academic literature on the topic 'Alchemical transformation'

The concept of the alchemical process is relevant not only to the individual client venturing forth in therapy, but to the relationship between the therapist and the client as well. Although alchemy was a highly solitary work, alchemists frequently had one helper; perhaps the therapist can be viewed as the "alchemical helper" to the client. We may posit that as the client moves through the various alchemical stages of their therapeutic journey, so too does the relationship between the alchemist/client and alchemist/helper-therapist transform through a parallel alchemical process. This article explores the alchemical transformation of the therapist-client relationship in the context of therapy with one client.

Abstract This article studies the comprehensive medico-alchemical Tamil text Six Hundred Verses by Siddhar Yākōpu. Through an analysis of selected sections of this text, the article explores the discourse on the preparation called cavukkāram. Cavukkāram seems to be crucial for the medico-alchemical system exposited in the book, where it is portrayed as a potent catalyst that enables both alchemical operations on inanimate matter and remarkable transformations of human beings. The article explores the recipes, powers, and further processing for cavukkāram, drawing out ambiguities and inconsistencies in the discourse on the substance and the equivocalness of the text. It concludes that Six Hundred Verses describes, among other things, several different methods of preparing a substance called cavukkāram; the vocabulary in the recipes is highly ambiguous, and certain ingredients are presented as rare and difficult to attain – all of which adds to the obscurity of the discourse.

Taking its cue from David Holt's discussion of Jung and Marx in relation to alchemy, Christianity, and the work against Nature, this paper discusses Goethe, Nietzsche, and Jung in relation to alchemy and the work on the self. It focuses on the idea of transformation as central to Jung's understanding of both Goethe's Faust and Nietzsche's Thus spoke Zarathustra. And it argues that, in alchemical terms, the Superman becomes the salamander – while suggesting, in the hidden and unspoken part of its title, that the Superman does not just become a salamander, he becomes the philosophers’ stone.

The aim of this study is to analyse the symbolism of E.T.A. Hoffman’s novella “The Golden Pot” within the framework of the alchemical discourse. The researchers employed historical-genetic, structural-semantic methods and the method of motivic analysis to explore the elements of medieval alchemical symbolism in the novella, namely: the motif of the hero’s initiation and his subsequent spiritual transformation, the symbols of snake, elemental spirits (salamander and dragon), manuscripts, blood, apples, garden, four elements, palm and cypress, as well as the symbolism of colour – red, black, white, gold and bronze. Results of the research suggest that the medieval theory of alchemy corresponded to the image of achieving creative harmony and spiritual transformation in German Romanticism.

In Sanskrit medical literature, rasāyana is defined as one of eight subject areas of medicine. The proclaimed aim of rasāyana therapies is to preserve or promote health and well-being, but also to prolong life, to halt degeneration caused by aging, to rejuvenate and to improve cognitive function. The term “rasāyana” describes the therapies that together constitute this branch of medicine; the methodology and regimen of treatment; and the medicinal substances and formulations used in these therapies. In Indian alchemical literature, the Sanskrit term “rasāyana” is predominantly used to describe the final stages of alchemical operations, i.e. all that is involved in the taking of elixirs for attaining a state of spiritual liberation in a living body. Rasāyana in this sense describes a series of related processes, including the preparation of the elixir; the preparation of the practitioner; the intake of the elixir and finally, the process of transformation the practitioner undergoes after intake of the elixir. In my paper, I present examples of rasāyana sections from a selection of medical and alchemical treatises to explore their connections and divergences. I also discuss how the connections between medical and alchemical rasāyana sections reflect the development of iatrochemistry in alchemical literature.

This paper explores the connections between Iain Sinclair’s 2015 travelogue Black Apples of Gower and the Merlin legend. Despite the fact that, on the surface, Sinclair does not refer to the early Welsh merlinistic tradition, on closer inspection both share what M. Wynn Thomas has described as “hidden attachments” – cross cultural connections and experiences between the two literatures of modern Wales. The archaic bedrock of the Merlin legend and the alchemical imagery in Sinclair’s book are both rooted in the mythico-ritualistic complex of symbolic regeneration based on the repetition of the act of original creation. Both Merlin and the alchemical process involve an ontological transformation which is mirrored in Black Apples of Gower by the transcendence of textual and medial boundaries: a complex network of intertextual allusions and word-image relationships (ekphrases, reproductions and illustrations). By exploring these relationships, along with the merlinistic and alchemical imagery present in the text, I argue that the work employs the strategy of what I call textual nigredo – a process of intertextual and intermedial transformation. The affinities identified between the Merlin legend and Sinclair’s travelogue provide an argument for seeing Iain Sinclair as a Welsh writer and shed new light on the links between the Welsh-language literary tradition and English-language Welsh writing which may be pursued further in the future.

Aspects of modernity in Western culture that act to limit conceptions of diversity, such as binary, hierarchical oppositions and the privileging of discursive, analytic knowledge over intuitive and receptive ways of knowing, have played a significant role in both the denigration and erasure of people who have transgender and gender nonconforming identities and experiences. As these elements of modernity are subjected to scrutiny by transgender and cisgender peoples, new knowledge is produced that allows for an increase in transgender visibility. This visibility then works back upon culture to further erode the constraining effects of modernity in the culture at large. Four myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses are discussed to illustrate gender diversity and this spiraling process.

Ovid's powerful and timely myths help to capture the present moment when the lives and voices of transgender and gender nonconforming peoples are destabilizing old stories and creating new gender myths, new lenses through which to view and understand gender. "Salmacis and Hermaphroditus" is a vehicle for reflecting on modernity, its limitations, and the gender transformation currently taking place in culture. "Iphis and Ianthe" offers an opportunity to consider issues of embodiment and the importance of family and community support for people who are gender diverse. "Caenis/Caenus" is the brave warrior without and within. He faces the challenging confrontations with the cultural status quo and the deep intrapsychic movement that gender diversity can initiate. Finally, "Tiresias" ushers in a meditation on ways of knowing, healing, and the privileged positions gender diverse peoples have held in cultures with more inclusive gender systems.

The production portion of this dissertation was a public dialogue event for transgender and gender diverse community members and allies in Los Angeles entitled TranSolidarity World Café. Through an organic process of emergence and with the help of public dialogue experts and many volunteers, a gathering for 160 people was hosted. A record of the event was captured in the drawings and graphic recordings of those who participated.

The transformation of matter and the reflection of light are at the heart of filmmaking and moving image practice, exemplified by Stan Brakhage’s assertion that “matter is still light. Light held in a bind.” Catoptrics is the use of optical devices, mirrors, crystals and lenses in the processes of focussing and directing light. Alchemy has a two thousand year history, commonly misunderstood as a form erroneous proto-chemistry in which people sought the Philosopher’s Stone to transmute base metals into gold. Alchemical catoptrics is the place where the disciplines of alchemy and catoptrics meet, encompassing an enquiry into the fundamental properties of matter and the possibilities for its transformation, bound up in range of pre-scientific belief systems and philosophies of light, matter and cosmogenesis. In conventional media histories, the historical antecedents of moving image practice are usually explored through the evolution of visual media technologies. Such an approach only deals with the superficial tools of moving image practice, binding itself up in the machinery of spectacle, while remaining silent on the deeper questions of humankind’s imaginative relationship with luminous matter. The practice of alchemical catoptrics was an experimental exploration of this relationship; between light, the phenomenal world, the deep structure of substance, imagination, belief and meaning. The current study offers a fresh historical perspective on what it means to experiment with the substance of light in a transformative, luminous, meaning-making capacity. It uncovers a language of transformation that speaks to the author's own practice, while offering new insights into the experimental methodologies, motives and practices of other moving image artists. The research discusses the 13th century light philosophy of Robert Grosseteste and its referencing by Stan Brakhage and Hollis Frampton, leading into an exploration of the methodologies of historical alchemical catoptrics, citing original document translations prepared for the purpose of the thesis. Using the examples of Man Ray (1890–1976) and Patrick Bokanowski (1943-present), the research then shows how alchemical catoptrical thinking can inform our interpretation of the practices of these two moving image artists. The thesis concludes with an examination of the alchemical-catoptrical ideas and methods used for the production of two of my recent film works: Speculum (2011-2014) and Catoptrica (2011-2013).

Les informations au niveau atomique sont essentielles pour décrire la structure et la dynamique des complexes biomoléculaires. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse visent à explorer et à améliorer les techniques informatiques expliquant la formation de complexes, quantifiant les énergies libres de liaison ou décrivant la dynamique de systèmes multi-composants. J'ai d'abord développé un protocole pour calculer l'énergie libre de liaison d'un complexe protéine-ligand. Il s'appuie sur des transformations alchimiques réalisées dans un cadre mécanique statistique rigoureux. Le protocole est distribué au sein du plugin BFEE2, un outil conçu pour aider l'utilisateur à préparer tous les fichiers d'entrée nécessaires et à effectuer le post-traitement des simulations d'estimation d'affinité de liaison. La dynamique moléculaire (MD) et les simulations alchimiques ont été utilisées pour fournir des informations sur la formation de complexes protéiques spécifiques en termes de structure et de dynamique. L'ensemble des protéines Dpr et DIP, qui jouent un rôle clé dans la neuromorphogenèse du système nerveux de Drosophila melanogaster, offre un paradigme riche pour en apprendre davantage sur la reconnaissance protéine-protéine. De nombreux membres de la sous-famille DIP réagissent de manière croisée avec plusieurs membres de la famille Dpr et vice-versa. Bien qu'il existe un total de 231 hétérodimères Dpr-DIP possibles, seules 57 paires « apparentées » ont été détectées par des expériences de résonance plasmonique de surface (SPR), ce qui suggère que les 174 paires restantes ont une affinité de liaison faible ou peu fiable. Ici, j'ai évalué les performances des approches informatiques pour quantifier les affinités de liaison entre les protéines Dpr et DIP et j'ai identifié, au moyen d'une série de mutations ponctuelles, les résidus interfaciaux régissant la spécificité du processus de reconnaissance. En m'appuyant sur les transformations alchimiques, j'ai développé une méthode de simulation hybride dynamique moléculaire hors équilibre - Monte Carlo (neMD/MC) visant à améliorer l'échantillonnage de membranes inhomogènes, en contournant la lente diffusion latérale des différents constituants. Des molécules lipidiques choisies aléatoirement sont échangées pour générer des configurations qui sont ensuite acceptées ou rejetées selon un critère Metropolis basé sur le travail alchimique associé à la tentative d'échange calculé via une trajectoire courte. Les performances de l'algorithme hybride neMD/MC et sa capacité à échantillonner la distribution des lipides à proximité d'une hélice transmembranaire portant une charge nette sont illustrées pour un mélange binaire de lipides chargés et zwitterioniques. Pour maintenir l'équilibre entre un système simulé et un bain environnant infini, une version modifiée de l'algorithme neMD/MC a été développée, dans laquelle un lipide choisi au hasard dans le système simulé est échangée avec un lipide prélevé dans un système séparé faisant office de système thermodynamique. « réservoir » avec la fraction molaire souhaitée pour tous les composants lipidiques. En parallèle de ces simulations, la dynamique des canaux ioniques pentamères ligand-dépendants (pLGIC) est étudiée. Lors de la liaison avec un agoniste, la conformation des protéines change pour contrôler le transport des ions vers et hors des cellules. À l'aide de diverses structures liées à des récepteurs nicotiniques, des simulations MD sont calculées. La conductivité et la stabilité du pore des pLGICs à l'état désensibilisé sont mesurées. Il a également été démontré que les fonctions de ces protéines dépendent de la composition lipidique. En recourant à des simulations alchimiques, la différence d'affinité protéine-lipide est calculée avec des lipides anioniques et zwitterioniques liés à la protéine
Atomic-level information is essential to describe the structure and dynamics of biomolecular assemblies. The work presented in this thesis aims to explore and enhance computational techniques explaining the formation of complexes, quantifying binding free energies or describing the dynamics of multi-components systems. I first developed a protocol to compute the binding free energy of a ligand buried in a membrane protein. It relies on alchemical transformations carried out in a rigorous statistical mechanical framework. The protocol is distributed within the BFEE2 plugin, a tool designed to assist the end user in preparing all the necessary input files and performing the post-treatment of the simulations towards the final estimate of the binding affinity. Molecular Dynamics (MD) and alchemical simulations have been employed to provide insights into the formation of specific protein complexes in terms of structure and dynamics. The set of Dpr and DIP proteins, which play a key role in the neuromorphogenesis in the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster, offer a rich paradigm to learn about protein-protein recognition. Many members of the DIP subfamily cross-react with several members of the Dpr family and vice-versa. While there exists a total of 231 possible Dpr-DIP heterodimer, only 57 “cognate” pairs have been detected by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments, suggesting that the remaining 174 pairs have low or unreliable binding affinity. Here I assessed the performance of computational approaches to in quantifying the binding affinities between Dpr and DIP proteins and I identified by means of a series of point mutations, the interfacial residues governing the specificity of the recognition process. Building on alchemical transformations, I developed a hybrid nonequilibrium molecular dynamics - Monte Carlo (neMD/MC) simulation method aimed at enhancing the sampling of inhomogeneous membranes, circumventing the slow lateral diffusion of the various constituents. Randomly chosen lipid molecules are swapped to generate configurations that are subsequently accepted or rejected according to a Metropolis criterion based on the alchemical work associated to the attempted swap calculated via a short trajectory. The performance of the hybrid neMD/MC algorithm and its ability to sample the distribution of lipids near a transmembrane helix carrying a net charge are illustrated for a binary mixture of charged and zwitterionic lipids. To enforce equilibrium between a simulated system and an infinite surrounding bath, a modified version of the neMD/MC algorithm was developed, in which a randomly chosen lipid molecule in the simulated system is swapped with a lipid picked in a separate system standing as a thermodynamic “reservoir” with the desired mole fraction for all lipid components. Membrane proteins function has been shown to depend on the lipid organization within the membrane either through averaged bulk effect or specific binding. A well-known class of protein exhibiting such a dependance is the family of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs). Upon the binding of a neurostransmitter, the conformation of these proteins changes establing a ionic current at the synapse junctions, transforming therby a chemical into an electric signal. Here, we generated several MD trajectories of various agonist-bound structures of nicotonic acethlycholine receptors solved by cryoEM, providing a molecular basis shedding light on the desensitization process. The conductivity and the stability of the pore of the pLGICs in a desensitized state are measured. The functions of these proteins have also been shown to depend on lipid composition. Finally, we employed alchemical tranformations to quantify the relative binding affinities of anionic and zwitterionic lipids at putative pLGIC binding sites, enlightening how lipids modulate the fonction of these proteins

碩士
國立臺灣大學
外國語文研究所
80
Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Western Alchemy, Jungain Psychology, and Ignatian Meditation Chapter Three: The Immortal Diamond: A Jungian Approach to Hopkins's Works Chapter Four: Conclusion Works Cited Selective Bibliography

From the Middle Ages to the close of the 17th century, alchemy was fundamental to Western culture, as scores of experimenters sought to change lead into gold. Though its significance declined with the rise of chemistry, alchemy continued to captivate the imagination of writers and its images still appear in modern creative works. This book examines the literary representation of alchemical theory and the metaphor of alchemical regeneration in the works of Edward Taylor, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller. While Taylor used alchemical metaphors to illustrate the redeeming grace of God upon the soul, these same metaphors were used by Poe, Hawthorne, and Fuller to depict a broader concept of redemption. These later writers used alchemical imagery to describe both the regeneration of the individual and the possible transformation of society. For Poe, alchemy became a metaphor for the transforming power of imagination; for Hawthorne, it became a means of representing the redeeming power of love; for Fuller, it figured the reconciliation of gender opposites. Thus these four American writers incorporated the idea of regeneration in their works, and the tropes and metaphors of the medieval alchemists provided a fascinating way of imagining the transformative process.

Abstract The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth is the first monograph on the religious philosophy of Jacob Frank (1726–1791), who, in the wake of the false messiah Sabbetai Zevi, led the largest mass apostasy in Jewish history. Based on close readings of Frank’s late teachings, recorded in 1784 and 1790, The Heresy of Jacob Frank presents Frank as an original and prescient figure at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, reason and magic. Frank’s worldview combines an antinomian, skeptical rejection of religious law with a supernatural, Western Esotericist myth of immortal beings, magic, and worldly power. Frank’s goal was alchemical in nature, culminating in physical transformation, power, and immortality, and his messiah was a syncretic female figure known as the Maiden, whose characteristics draw on Kabbalah, magic, and the veneration of the Black Virgin of Częstochowa, where Frank was imprisoned for twelve years. Sexual ritual, apparently tightly limited and controlled by the sect, was not a libertine bacchanal but a transgressive enactment of the messianic reality, a corporealization of what would later become known as spirituality. While Frank was undoubtedly a manipulative, even abusive leader whose sect mostly disappeared from history, his ideology anticipated themes that would become predominant in the Haskalah, early Hasidism, and even contemporary “New Age” Judaism. And his unbelievable, winding journey from Sabbatean heretic to eighteenth-century charlatan- alchemist-spy is perhaps even more remarkable than the radical theology he preached.

James Flint’s novel The Book of Ash (2004) is a book concerned with the toxic legacy of the Cold War and the literary challenge of representing the security state inherited from Thomas Pynchon. The plot concerns Cooper James, a computer programmer employed by the US military at Featherbrooks, an RAF outpost in North Yorkshire, and his search for the truth about his father. The figure of the father is inspired by the real-life American sculptor James Acord (1944–2011), the only private citizen in the world licensed to own and handle high-level radioactive materials. In 1989 Acord moved close to Hanford, site of US plutonium production and the most polluted nuclear site in the US, where he sought to create something like a nuclear Stonehenge as a long-term memorial to the nuclear age, and to develop artistic practices for transmuting radioactive waste into less harmful substances. Acord imagined his own aesthetic practice to be a kind of alchemy, and The Book of Ash is precisely in this same style, making alchemical transformation a literary subject but also a literary technique: it is a radioactive novel in its subject matter and the way it transmutes novelistic style and content over time.