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The Alchemy of Practice

An example of group work that had a deep effect on me in the early years of practice was an exploration of an alchemical work by Trismorin. The text describes a process of change and refinement through enigmatic words and beautiful pictures. The prose glows with the possibility of freedom as it describes transformations that resonate with practice. The rich potential of the text would not have been realised without the care and attention given to the way the group was set up and the compassionate rigour with which the way of working was established and maintained by the teacher.

The nature of the material meant that it penetrated deeply and participants’ responses to it took on the quality of the material. You could see them being transformed through their investigations. It is necessary for the vessel that contains such work to be strong. It is no good if the crucible intended to transform your raw material shatters at a temperature lower than that required to transform it. The crucible in this case was the discipline of the group that was maintained with clarity and kindness in a way that allowed participants to be transformed – if only for the time the heat was on!