Alchemy
Spin a little magic
We wait, starving for moments of high magic to inspire us, but life is full of common enchantment waiting for our alchemist’s eye to notice.
Jacob Nordby
Alchemy - a word that I’ve carried with me for decades. I have childhood memories of seeing movies with wizards trying to turn ordinary metal into gold, and that grumpy old dwarf, Rumpelstiltskin, deviously helping the miller’s daughter spin straw into gold.
Alchemy (from the Arabic word al-kīmīā) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, and a pre-scientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. It was taken very seriously until it was determined to be impossible. It is considered a forerunner of chemistry, philosophy, and mysticism, leaving it’s history and effectiveness open to interpretation.
As I grew older, I decided that, for me, alchemy was what you did when you made something that did not exist before - literally turning raw materials into the gold of a new object, aka art.
Lady Alchemy showed up late in my art life. Looking to make cyanotype prints with something other than leaves, I modified an image I found on a torn magazine page from my collection. (I’m a magazine junkie, an addiction I picked up from my mother. More on that another day.) Lady Alchemy became my alter-ego, my art persona, my muse. And boy, has she inspired me. Just looking at her makes me want to make something. Maybe that’s why I have so many unfinished projects throughout the house.
Beginnings are exciting - ohhhh, the possibilities. For me, the real joy comes in the making. Completions, though, are a denouement, final, the end, and for me, often a let-down. I did what I set out to do. Now what?
Get inspired again, that’s what.
Alchemy is not just about making art. Well, maybe it is if you consider that making a life you love living is an art. We create our days, don’t we? We can make them, they don’t make us. Just like the decisions that go into making your art, your meals, the clothing you choose, and the lens through which you see life, the outcome is in your hands. Be an alchemist and make it good.
Quotes of the Week
Allow the alchemy of your challenging journey to etch itself into your character,
making you into a rich personality.
Thomas Moore
Like any art, the creation of self is both natural and seemingly impossible.
It requires training as well as magic.
Holly Near
We have buried so much of the delicate magic of life.
D.H. Lawrence
You create the opportunity for magic only by giving up your preconceptions.
Toinette Lippe
The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts
This is a very rich post of thoughts I love to explore. Right now I have my entire (small) family here, peeps from both coasts. We rarely get to see each other. We've had a GREAT time. The youngest being 14 and the oldest 87. I had the fun of creating our doings - a scavenger hunt (that the 14 year old won and he's never been here or seen all these treasures!), a really complex puzzle laid out on a table for people to do as they pass by. (got it done! It is a Klimt painting), and meals for the 5 nights we have been together. I also arranged a photo shoot with a photgrapher frriend and praise god, the weather cooperated and produced what she calls the 'golden hour. I'm asking each family member to write a little blurb about their thoughts of their experience over these few precious days.
Something else I want to share is what I do when I can't think of another thing to write! I MAKE myself write just one more sentence and that leads me on. It's a bit of magic, I'd say.
Thank you Lesley. Another gem from you, full of magic!
Loved this—alchemy is my word for 2026.