In alchemy, albedo, or leucosis, is the second of the four major stages of the Magnum Opus, along with nigredo, citrinitas and rubedo.[1] It is a Latinicized term meaning "whiteness". Following the chaos or massa confusa of the nigredo stage, the alchemist undertakes a purification in albedo, which is literally referred to as ablutio – the washing away of impurities. This phase is concerned with "bringing light and clarity to the prima materia (the First Matter)".[2]
In this process, the subject is divided into two opposing principles to be later coagulated to form a unity of opposites or coincidentia oppositorum during rubedo.[3] Alchemists also applied it to an individual's soul after the first phase is completed, which entailed the decay of matter.[4] In Medieval literature, which developed an intricate system of images and symbols for alchemy, the dove often represented this stage, while the raven symbolized nigredo.[5]
Titus Burckhardt interprets the albedo as the end of the lesser work, corresponding to a spiritualization of the body. Claiming the goal of this portion of the process is to regain the original purity and receptivity of the soul.[6]
Psychology
Psychologist Carl Jung equated the albedo with unconscious contrasexual soul images; the anima in men and animus in women. It is a phase where insight into shadow projections are realized, and inflated ego and unneeded conceptualizations are removed from the psyche. Шаблон:Citation needed
Another interpretation describes albedo as an experience of awakening and involves a shift in consciousness where the world becomes more than just an individual's ego, his family, or country.[7]
References
Nigel Hamilton. "The Alchemical Process of Transformation." 1985.
