Ep300: The Spiritual Practice of Alchemy - Katarina Falkenberg & Tommy Westlund
Katarina Falkenberg & Tommy Westlund are alchemists, practitioners of Western Esotericism, and authors of Alchemy, The Divine Work.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Katarina and Tommy detail the stages and methods of the spiritual path of Western alchemy. They explain the movement through four phases, describe the operations employed during each, and reveal the signs of progress that indicate success.
Katarina and Tommy reveal how to pray to the Madonna, how to purify karma, how to work with fire and emotions such as anger and sadness, the role of tinctures and elixirs, and methods of astral travel and archetypal work.
Katarina and Tommy also consider the power of the imagination, the interaction with external alchemical operations and inner personal refinement, and recount stories of entity encounters and reality creation.
00:00 - Intro
01:04 - “Alchemy, The Divine Work”
02:30 - Practices of the alchemical path
03:38 - Prima materia and meditation
05:42 - Meditating on alchemical emblems
06:43 - The metaphysics of prima materia consciousness
07:30 - Praying to Black Madonna
08:38 - How to pray
10:07 - Use of the imagination
11:42 - Signs of contact with the Black Madonna
13:44 - Purifying karma and releasing traumas
15:08 - Inhaling suffering and exhaling love
16:50 - Purification and divine providence
19:09 - The Nigredo phase
20:50 - The seven planets and chakras
21:49 - Theosophical ideas about seven governing forces
26:15 - Moving into the Albedo phase
27:11 - Mercurial consciousness
28:22 - Nigredo vs Albedo phases
29:43 - Working with the astral body
30:17 - Work with herbs and creating tinctures
34:18 - An alchemical elixir toast
36:39 - The Citrinitas phase
38:27 - Working with fire
40:16 - Using anger and sadness
41:48 - Death is not the end
43:33 - Reintegrating the Dark Angel
44:04 - The magic of imagination
48:14 - Fourfold processes and the quintessence
49:37 - Making the soul bigger
51:22 - Working with the Egyptian and Gnostic traditions
52:24 - Projecting the four elements
53:53 - Pilgrimages to magical locations
55:19 - Visitations from giants and other beings
57:42 - Meeting inner archetypes in the outer world
59:37 - The Rubedo phase
01:01:41 - Microcosm and macrocosm
1:04:109 - Fasting and insight into the shadow
01:07:51 - Signs of process on the path
01:10:14 - Working at a deeper level
01:11:31 - Katarina’s novel manifesting into real life
01:13:41 - Creating your own universe
01:15:25 - Life as a creative project
01:17:23 - Working with the ego
01:19:40 - Death and resurrection
01:20:27 - Bad gurus with siddhi powers
01:22:11 - The power of partnership
01:23:34 - Humility and the flaming heart
01:24:40 - Practice advice for the eager student
01:30:36 - Balance vs obsession
01:33:50 - 10-15 years to a successful white wedding
01:36:32 - Working for the next life
Previous episode with Katarina Falkenberg & Tommy Westlund:
To find out more about Katarina Falkenberg & Tommy Westlund, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James