- All Transformation is understood to be ultimately self transformation.
- “As within, so without” -Famous Hermetic/Alchemical axiom.
- “We must become the change we want to see in the world” – Gandhi.
- The Global Alchemy methodology includes both how to become the change you want to see and how to express the change in to collective perception for the benefit of all
- It is spiritually centered
- It takes things as they are and transforms them into higher value
- Phenomena and existence is spiritualized rather then negated or escaped
- All aspect of one life can be harnessed for Alchemical transformation
- Alchemy can transform every aspect of ones life
- Every aspect of ones life, spiritual and material, is woven into a single tapestry of healing, transformation and liberation
- The body is seen as the vehicles for spiritual transformation and not an obstacle to it.
- It proceeds from the realization The greatest value is spiritual – the treasures that no thieves can steal nor moths eat away
- Each arena of life engagement is viewed simultaneously with an eye towards how to engage with the arena/system for self transformation, how to engage with the arena/system to be of maximum benefit to others and how to engage the arena/system itself, so that it can be transformed to be more supportive of individual transformation and Global sustainability.
- Heart-Centered - In Global Alchemy, “Heart-centered” is more then just metaphor but rather recognition of the key role the heart - physiologically, energetically and spiritually - plays in consciousness and human interaction.
- It is integral, integrative, systemic and embracive– it includes all aspect of life: self and other, interior and exterior
- A recognition and utilization of the esoteric dimensions of life engagement. This is really a subset of “It is Integral”, however. as this dimension is not well covered in many of the popular integral and systemic models (including Ken Wilber’s AQAL/”Theory of Everything”) and is of potentially critical importance, it merits separate mention as one of the unique distinctions of the Alchemical Approach.
- It is both art and science and thus views each moment of life as both an art project and an experiment
- It is experimental and experiential. – Global Alchemy is an engaged process that considers effective functioning as the measure of value of relative truth. Ie “Does it work and in what context?”
- it uses one dimension to transform another reflexively – it uses mundane life to create spiritual transformation and spirituality to transform mundane life
- It blends first and second attention strategies and inner and outer strategies