25July
Why everybody loves the beach (from an alchemist’s point of view)
Enjoying a day of exquisite laziness at the beach is one of the simplest and most innocent luxuries still left to modern man; especially in the summertime.
People from all walks of life, whose tastes and ideas of “a good time” may vary greatly, can all agree that a visit to the beach constitutes a pleasant, relaxing and rejuvenating experience - except for some hardcore emos and goths desperately in love with their own brooding.
Why is this, though? Each individual has his own conscious reasons: one likes the refreshing sensation of a long swim; others jump at the socially acceptable excuse to walk around semi-naked flaunting their “goods” or to be silly in public with inflatable toys or to drink colorful cocktails without risking damage to their scotch-guzzling manliness.
While these are perfectly valid reasons to love the beach there is a more profound explanation lurking in the subconscious mind of the human creature, at least from an alchemical viewpoint.
Have you ever noticed the dominant sensations permeating your body when you lie down, with eyes closed, simply sunbathing? The first thing you notice is the heat of the sun on your skin prickling you with a thousand fiery touches. Then there is the air. Be it a soft breeze or a strong, steady stream of gusts, it is always there since the geographical location of most beaches provides at least one vast front where there is no obstacle capable of impeding the wind currents as far as the eye can see. Laying down you can feel the wind enveloping your entire body in a way that makes it impossible not to realize a fact that people often give little attention to: that we are constantly immersed in air. Then you can hear the sea. The rhythmical murmur of the surf reminds you of the constant presence of water. If you have picked a spot closer to the edge of the sea you might feel its liquid caresses coming and going on some part of your body or, perhaps, only a cool spray drizzling over you periodically. Finally, you become aware that your body rests solidly on the ground, on sand or pebbles, and maybe you have dug your toes into the faintly throbbing earth.
In these simple, everyday sensations that beach-goers take for granted, one experiences firsthand the four basic elements of which the world is comprised according to the tenets of the ancients: fire (the sun), air (the wind), water (the sea), and earth (the sand).
It is in the quiet repose the beach has to offer that man can register with his limited senses the very building blocks which constitute the cosmos – and his own corporeal form as well, since man is an integral part of the universe, born of it and livingin it.
There is a fifth element though. The master-element, most sublime of all four: Aether. Ancient philosophers, just like alchemists later on, believed that Aether was a sort of an invisible force running through the matrix of creation, a conduit for the basic elements to flow through and manifest their generative powers. It was the connecting force, the life-blood of the cosmos.
Modern science discards such theory as mystic poppycock. It does however hypothesize that there is a type of matter, styled “dark matter”, which accounts for effects in cosmology that appear to be the result of invisible mass. This “dark matter” is, much like the Aether of the ancients, invisible and cannot be seen directly through telescopes. According to the measurements taken by ESA’s “Planck” space observatory the known universe (close to what the ancients would call “cosmos”) contains 4.9% ordinary matter (products of the four basic elements in alchemical terms) while dark matter constitutes 84.5 % of the total matter in the universe (the rest of the percentage is “dark energy” but we won’t go into that right now). It is interesting to note that “dark matter” particles have the ability to go through ordinary matter. According to theoretical physicists, a “dark matter” particle smacks into the average person’s body about once a minute. “Dark matter” invisible and undetectable stream is flowing through all that we can perceive, even with our most highly sensitive instruments.
Therefore it is safe to assume that while you lay there on the beach, relishing the sensations of the four elements, you are also experiencing the fifth element as well – even though your body may lack the sensory “hardware” to become aware of its effects. Just when you think that all is peaceful and quiet and still, you are locked in a cosmic waltz swaying to the tempo of elemental flow.
The Pythagoreans used the symbol of the tetractys to schematically put this into perspective. The tetractys is a triangular figure consisting of ten points, or dots, arranged in four rows: one, two, three, and four. Sometimes the points of the tetractys are depicted inside the outline of an equilateral triangle. There are many explanations given concerning the meaning of this symbol, occult as well as mathematical.
If we consider the first single dot as the element of fire (the sun), then accordingly the two dots would be air (the wind), the three water (the sea), and the four earth (the sand). Aether is the triangle enclosing all the dots, or all the elements, due to its nature as an all-permeating force.
Not only is this a neat little depiction of the structure of the universe but also of man himself. If you imagine the Aetheric triangle to be you – not your body; the quintessential you – then it becomes evident that all the elements are contained within your very nature. You form part of their harmonious ensemble just as they are indispensable parts of you.
Isn’t it then only natural that you should feel so much at ease in a place like the beach, where all the stimuli of the environment recall to your unconscious mind its own existence and sublime unity?
After all, you know what they say: there is no place like our primordial home with its foundations at the very core of your being.
They say that. Really.
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