When we look about us, at our conditions and circumstances, at our inner world, the task of our
alchemy seems hopeless. In most cases we are dealing with centuries and centuries – perhaps
millenia – of misqualified thought and feeling. Centuries of negative momentums in the psyche.
From a purely human perspective, the job is impossible. But as with all purely human opinion, it is
wrong. We have help. We have tools. The more we use then the more powerful they will become.

Perhaps the most important tool – the most important piece of knowledge – is the fact that we have
a Master Alchemist within. This Master Alchemist understands everything there is to know about
alchemy and transformation – every detail and nuance. Getting connected with this Master
Alchemist – and staying in connection – is the first and primary objective. From this place of
connection, each transmutation, each alchemical project, will be handled just so.

The Master Alchemist should always be consulted before employing any technique.

Tool # 1. Awareness. By awareness we mean a “choicelss observation” We 1 are alert, aware,
without judgement or human concepts interfering. In fact, it is good to identify ourselves as a “pure
awareness” – and awareness can only be aware. Just this practice will transform any condition in
life. Problems arise not so much because of events, but because of the human judgement and
reaction to them. Non-judgemental awareness by itself will alchemicalize these events.

Tool # 2. Attention. Attention is a bit different from awareness. It is a narrowing – a focus – of the
overall awareness on one thing. Awareness embraces everything, but attention ignores everything
except the object of attention. This is a most powerful tool. For the Law is that what we pay
attention to – is what eventually happens to us. Attention is a door that allows things into our world –
our mind and feelings. If painful things are occurring in our lives it is because we have paid
attention to them – at some point – and they have been allowed to act in our minds. Getting control
of the attention – the ability to focus it on what is desirable, rather than what is undesirable – is a
major goal for the alchemist. If there is sickness, the attention has been allowed to rest on sickness
and the cure is to immediately shift the attention to health. The same is true with any condition.
Shift the attention and immediately there will be a shift in the outer condition. The speed with which
it happens can vary – but the moment the attention is shifted there is subtle (and sometimes
dramatic) shifts in the inner and outer condition. The Philosophers of the Tarot, call the faculty of
attention, The Magician, for this reason. It is the magical lever that creates conditions. When the
attention is focused on something, it starts many processes into action – memory, recepts and
concepts will start to form. Ideas will flow. Knowledge will come. Eventually there will be outer
manifestation. Most problems of life come from a misuse of the attention. The Alchemist learns
how to use it properly.

Tool # 3. The Will. By this we mean a person’s intention. It is the will – the true intent – that enables
the alchemist to direct the attention to where it is needed and to use all the other tools available.
Will needs to be understood on a deeper level. There is the personal will – the will of the mortal
human mind – and there is the Divine Will – the Will of the Higher Nature. Personal will tends to be
concerned with “me and mine” – with the welfare of the outer, animal self. Divine Will is of course
concerned with these things, but is also concerned with the larger good – the good of all. The
ability to submerge the personal will – to sublimate it to the Divine Will – is one of the most
important tasks of the alchemist. From the place of will, one can direct the attention to where it
should be and “speak the creative word” for what is desired.

Tool # 4. The Word. The problem with the human being is not “disempowerment” but precisely the
reverse. It is his god like power – the power to create – that has caused every problem. The word –
spoken consciously and with feeling – immediately creates on the inner levels – what ever has been
spoken. We might not see the outer results of this immediately, but on the inner levels the creation
is instantaneous. The Alchemist must understand the power of the Word and through the use of
the Will, only use words that will create the desired result. (Easier said than done.)

Tool # 5. Touch and Let Go. All of us have been around a long time. We have all had many, many
incarnations. These memories are still with us and highly active. Most of the time, these memories
have huge psychic charges on them – in the case of traumas and the like. When these old
memories get triggered, the mind is flooded with the feelings and thoughts associated with them –
these feelings can be so strong as to override awareness, attention and even the will. These
memories are like a psychic mine field. One misstep – one glance – one wrong word – can set off
the mines – and all kinds of negative, destructive energy is released. This harms both the target and
the person sending it out. What is tragic here is that in many cases the explosions have nothing
really to do with the present situation – which might be quite different from the way the psyche is
interpreting it. So, even with a developed will, attention and good use of the Word, there is a need
for a technology for cleansing the psyche of these mines. Touch and Let go is one such method.
There are many others as well. But this is a valid workable method. With Touch and Let Go, the
alchemist, from a state of poise and higher consciousness, deliberately sets off the mines so that
they explode harmlessly. Little by little, the inner mine field becomes the Magician’s Garden of
Delight.

Tool # 6. Thoughts. Thought is a product of the mental body. Thoughts are creative on their own
plane and eventually manifest as feelings, images, experiences and things. Our present condition –
for good or ill – is directly related to our thoughts. If the condition is painful or limiting, the thought
has to be changed. Changing thoughts is relatively easy. The Will and the Word will create new
thought patterns. Gaining control of the thought process is one of the principal goals of the
alchemist. Changing negative thoughts to positive ones is one of the ways that spiritual alchemy
works. Human Beings were endowed with the power to control their thoughts – right use of this
power leads to freedom, health and prosperity.

Tool # 7. The Feeling Nature. Here we have the main cause of problems in life. The feeling nature
is like nuclear power. If ungoverned it is very destructive. It is much easier to change negative
thoughts to positive ones than it is to change negative feelings into positive ones. But it can be
done. Man was not intended to be a victim of feelings, but the master of them. This doesn’t mean
repression of feeling – which only leads to repression and to delayed reactions. You can’t repress
them for too long. And when they do express, they will come out with much more force than if they
weren’t repressed. No, the alchemist much understand the feeling nature and learn to direct it
along positive lines. Touch and Let Go is a valuable aid here. But regular periods of prayer and
meditation will also be good. When thought and feeling are in conflict – which happens in the early
stage of the alchemical process – there is an internal war – and manifestation will be delayed. But
when the feelings are brought into alignment with the thought and the will, manifestation will be
instantaneous.

Understanding these 7 tools and applying the knowledge with firm determination will lead the
alchemist to the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.