Sacrifice, the Alchemical Catalyst

The rituals that are accompanied by sacrifices in magical ceremonies are universally prevalent since antiquity. The objective of a sacrifice is essentially to increase the potency of those rituals, and to enhance their effectiveness in a drastic way. The alchemical procedures work no less than any rituals designed by the magicians, and hence the sacrifices also act as catalysts in those procedures. The following symbolism of the hierophant in the alchemical tarot deck depicts with much profundity this process of alchemical catalysis.

The hierophant is essentially a teacher of the mysteries of duality, and he performs the work of an alchemical catalyst. There is also a strong depiction of many dualistic properties in the background of the hierophant image, as the contrasting dualities in forms of light and dark, sun and moon, man and woman, red and white flames, elements of fire and water, and pages from the books of wisdom both sublime and mundane are to be reconciled in their utmost harmony by the wisdom of the hierophant. The alchemical hierophant combines the sulphur and salt in the catalytic medium of mercury so that the body and soul of an alchemist may rediscover the domain of the spirit. The mystics of alchemy in the medieval times used to consider the existence of two different kinds of fire. The sacred heavenly fire or Schamayim, which is present above the high heavens providing light and life to the universe, and the infernal fire of the fallen depths of earth causing chaos and destruction in the mundane realm. All the creation hanged suspended between these two extremes of the fire principle, of which the higher consisted of purely spiritual essence of ‘wisdom’ and 'intelligence', and the lower an angry terrestrial and polluted essence of ‘greed’ and 'desire'. Thus, the alchemist seeks to escape from the infernal flames of lust, greed, and desire; and ascend into the pure light of compassion, intelligence, and reason; so that the flame within him may reunite with the sovereign light of the sacred heavenly fire. The hierophant symbol also reminds man that throughout life, a spark of divine brilliancy always remains alight within him, and that the very spark through appropriate sacrifice can grow to be the blazing and ever-burning lamp of the hierophant. Thus, an alchemist through sacrificing his greed for the sake of wisdom becomes a hierophant of the catalytic fire.

Another factor regarding the catalysis with fire is the traditional burning of incense and spices in the religious ceremonies. Here, the inherent earthly potential of an alchemist when nurtured by the spiritual aspirations slowly burns away and transmutes all the base elements and objectives of his material self, and offers up the essence thereof as the fragrant smoke upon the altar of divinity. As the sacrifice of the perfume rising from the incense burner is acceptable to the Lord, so should the words and actions of the alchemist be ever a pleasant aroma to the hierophant. It is significant to note that even the words of wisdom can prove to be a sweet savour and an acceptable sacrifice in alchemy. When thoughts or emotions of a person focus on higher or lower concerns, then according to that case they determine the direction of actions where his life energy finds its eventual expenditure. If lower emotions predominate, the flame upon the spiritual altar burns low and almost flickers out because the actions feeding on it are concentrated upon some unworthy purpose. However, when aspirations and high-mindedness predominate, then the essences of the body rise upward and become proper fuels for the ever-burning lamp of the hierophant. Therefore, the actual purpose of an alchemical sacrifice is to create harmony between the needs, the desires, and the aspirations of higher intelligence in human lives.