Tunnel of Transmutation
NYC, 2022
Directed by Rodrigo Courtney
Starring Hanna Katarina
Original music by Stan Zenkov
You will definitely drop some tears crossing this tunnel.
The Great Work (in Latin: Magnum Opus) refers, in the alchemical and Hermetic tradition, to the process of transmutation of the primal material (prima materia) into the philosopher’s stone.
The philosopher stone is the most refined and valuable substance which through the alchemical process emerges from the crudest and most worthless. In traditional alchemy, this was the transmutation of lead into gold.
Later, in the Gnostic tradition, this was interpreted not as the transmutation of metal, but of the soul or psyche of the alchemist himself.The four stages of transmutation in Alchemy are Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas and Rubedo.
In psychological terms Jung described these as: Confession, Illumination, Education and Transformation.
Individuation, in Jungian psychology, is the process whereby an individual realizes a state of spiritual and psychological wholeness.
Through this process, that, which was previously fragmented and broken, is restored and synthesized so that a whole and unique individual emerges; an individual who fully accepts, and is one with, him or herself; an individual who is fully authentic and embraces his or her destiny. It is a movement away from being a pawn in the hands of fate, to consciously collaborating in the realization of one’s unique destiny.
