“That ain’t waste—it’s just gold that hasn’t realized itself yet.” That ain't waste. It's just gold that hasn't realized itself yet. What's that waste? It's just gold that hasn't realized itself yet. Right. And I like that, you know. Yeah. Welcome to alchemy pot. This is a journey of transformation. for the outer consciousness. [Music] We love you. Hello everyone. Welcome to the Alchemy F podcast. My name is Derek. My name is Lizzy. And today, this is episode two. And we're going to talk about alchemy. Yep. We're going to dive into all things alchemy, our relationship to alchemy, why the alchemy pot, and how alchemy can be a transformative tool in your life. Yeah. So, first thing I want to ask you is what was the first time your your first uh exposure to alchemy? Like what was how did you first make contact with the word and the concepts of alchemy? That's a great question. I mean the concepts of alchemy I feel like are so embedded in many traditions and many practices. I think when I was living in New York City, I was constantly drawn to more metaphysical things far before I What is Alchemy? knew what they were. And I'd be like drawn to crystals and um I would buy my family crystals for Christmas and I had no connection to crystals and I just like would pick out ones that just felt like they would like that and it wasn't even a spiritual thing. It was just a feeling. And in that time I started to become I was work on a movie set and I start I met this woman and this woman came up to me and this all leads to alchemy kind of in a you know on a path and I met this woman on a movie set and she comes up to me and she looks at me and she goes your third eye is open. will you be my spiritual adviser? And I was 18 years old at the time and um I kind of laughed. I was like, what's a third eye? And um I had to Google like what a third eye was. And you know, I just learned it was a center for your intuition. And I was like, okay, that makes sense. Like I'm intuitive. I tend to pick up on on people's relationship patterns. I can tell when people are going to fall in love and when they're not. Like I I can just pick up on those things since childhood. And so when I learned about like the third eye and at the time I was learning about crystals and I was also living with a yogi who was into raw like raw food and she would chant in the morning and chant at night and and do yoga and give colonics and that was my first like roommate in Manhattan. She gave colonics in your apartment? No, no, no. At a wellness center too close to home. Um, and in that time I started learning about inner work, which I think is alchemy. And so I don't know if I had the term alchemy yet, but I'd say that was when I was first exposed to the concept indirectly, but directly because I started to then realize that you could alchemize these things inside of you. And I started exploring different forms of healing modalities back then and realizing that we had this power within us to transform and to shift things and we had capacities like our intuition and the ability to witness like even this woman I ended up not as a paid job or anything but I ended up loosely you know advising her um through like messages on Facebook, I think. And it was really interesting because I would just she would ask me a question and I would just feel my heart and I would feel a response to it. And I would feel something that needed to be communicated to her because the reason she was asking me a question was because something inside of her heart wanted to alchemize, wanted to open, wanted to transform. And I think the role that I was playing at that time was more of a witness. Mhm. And in the alchemy process from one of the learnings that I've picked up on in a more internal alchemy way, I've learned that what you need for a particular kind of alchemical process is you need a safe container. You need the substance that wants to be transformed and you need a witness. So for me, alchemy became a part of my life early on through I think being a witness, holding the role of of witness, if that makes sense. And what does that mean? So it means witness. Yeah. So like this is my journey of this isn't when I first opened a book and read the word alchemy. This is my journey as I'm speaking and this is what's coming out to share. It's more my journey of when I discovered these principles through experience and like got to experience what alchemy was and then later learn the terminology. And so a witness would be um someone who's a really great listener. You're sharing, right? You all probably have that friend or that therapist who when you share with them and they hold a safe container and they just they just witness you in yourself in your expression that energy dissolves that something within you transforms just because they're listening and they're present. And to me that's what a witness does. It doesn't even try to fix or change. It just holds a space and holds a loving field that when you're in that presence, it's it's safe. And in that safety, what we need to transform inside of ourselves, I believe we have innately inside of us. Just like what the soil maker needs to transform, what the earth needs to create soil is already inside the earth. We just have to feed it with the food scraps and that will create soil. So within us, we just have to look at the thing that wants to be transformed and witness it. And we have an innate intelligence I believe. And so that was kind of when I discovered alchemy. And it was also like I would end up in a interesting way I'd end up holding space for a lot of different kinds of people. Then like just sitting at dinners with groups of friends and then every dinner almost became like a a therapy session left and right and people were you know people who owned big law firms in New York or ran companies were just sharing their depths. They were sharing the dark stuff. They weren't like we'd come and we'd sit down for like a friendly meal and then all of a sudden it became an alchemical session and it was like you know men in their 50s and 60s like balling at the table or women who were in I was in the fashion world at the time who were models like coming into like releasing the pain and the pressure they felt from that world. And so it was like it was hard for me to go anywhere. And I think this also comes in discovering alchemy, but also discovering the inner alchemist and and that part of my soul path. Um, it was hard for me to have a sit down with anyone without intense stuff coming up. And I realized that when I was just present to it, something within them shifted. Hm. So that's when I'd say I first like discovered alchemy in a loud way and then it got louder and louder. That's really cool. Yeah. That when you when you just listen something shifts and I think there's an element of compassionately seeing from their perspective. Yeah. that helps the witness helps the energy of witnessing someone um transform them. It's like being seen because you know the person who's listening is seeing you from your own perception as well as they can. Absolutely. I think you I I would agree with that completely. The compassion is Witnessing & Compassion the piece that holds this space of almost unconditional love for whatever that person has experienced or whatever you yourself has experienced. There's there's not a judgment towards anything from the space of of compassion. And when you witness anything with compassion, it allows that transformation to to happen. And I actually think anything you witness with compassion will transform. Like now transforming is the compassion transform it into a like more of a loving form than it was before or you know cuz transformation doesn't necessarily uh imply a good thing. Yeah. you know the trans could transform into a monster. Yeah. You could transform into you know uh something worse. Well, so does the compassion sort of direct the energy of transformation? Yes. I I'd say compassion definitely directs the energy because this you could witness the same substance with compassion and then that substance may flower into into more love or into more selflove or into more you know like like when I've had people share and now I work also as an energy practitioner so I've spent probably thousands of hours with people sitting in a room and them sharing their deepest and darkest parts. And so in that process, anything that's held in compassion and finding that inner compassion, no matter what you've done, what actions, what old parts of you have played out, allows that substance to transform. Now, if that energy were to be witnessed with fear, it would be a lot harder for it to transform. which is what it would sort of like just double it double it would double it. It would double the fear which is why I feel like a good a good practitioner in a healing space knows how to hold compassion which means you can't what I find with compassion is you can't connect any of your like personal traumas to it. So if you're holding space as a facilitator, you have to hold a really neutral space and not assert your opinions or your personal ego in any way. So it's not like love and positivity. It's it's more of a neutral. It's more neutral and it's actually not feeling anyone else's feelings. It's recognizing the unconditional love of creation that that another person is, but it's not processing their feelings within your own body. Because if you're holding empathy and you're just feeling someone else's feelings, it can almost take away from their experience of getting to have a process cuz all of a sudden you're feeling what they need to feel. And sometimes that can be helpful if they're not feeling it and you're reflecting to them in some way like it can all serve. But if you want to hold the space in a healing capacity then holding compassion without judgment will in my experience allow things to transform a lot more effortlessly. That makes sense. You can't like turn into the food scrap if you're the soil maker. Right. Like Exactly. Well said. Yeah. Like the the analogy I'm seeing is like you as the alchemist are holding the container like a soil maker and then someone is coming to you and bringing you their their waste. Yes. You know, and so they're putting in the waste and then you're holding it and looking at it. Yeah. And allowing life to it. it just process itself. Yeah. Sort of the wor I feel like the worms in this um analogy are like a can of worms which is often like questions, you know, it's like sort of questions that then start to break down that waste and get deeper and deeper into turning it back into um something useful. Yes. So, I love that you say that about the can of worms because I think that's another really important element in alchemy and in inner alchemy within yourself and also in in relational alchemy or in spaceholding alchemy is the can of worms because the questions are portals to me. Mhm. So, one of the other keys I find when I'm facilitating an an energy session or client is the questions that I ask, which all gen like generally just come in via the intuition, but the questions basically help you point a light deeper into something. So, really feeling and knowing what questions to ask and then asking really good questions. Like, what's a really good question? Um, I've heard you ask me severally like great questions, especially when I'm processing things, but what would you say are some of your better questions to ask when you're holding space for someone? Yeah. So, some questions can be alchemy questions like, you know, yeah, it can go it, it depends on the person in the situation. And so, there these aren't um blanket statements. You really have to discern. I preface with that. And depending on someone's readiness and willingness to look at themselves is also something to discern. So if someone's like super ready, like with you, Derek and I, we're we're we're partners. We're in a a relationship. I'm willing. Yeah. He's incredibly willing. And so I probably go a little more direct. Yeah. With you and I'll be like immediately like, "So what are you afraid of? What is this situation situation inviting forward within you? What part of you is coming up? What part of you is reacting? Right. Um Yeah. I I like the um what part of you is benefiting from this? Yes. What part of you is benefiting from this? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. cuz we I I really believe we only hold on to things that some part of us, some part of our ego, some part of our awareness, some part of something that we've learned believes is benefiting from it. And then when we can recognize that that thing we learned when we were 12 on how to protect ourselves and is maybe not beneficial when we're a grown adult and we were holding on to it because we were scared and we thought we had to protect ourselves. So then we can develop a new mechanism for protecting ourselves and making sure we're safe that's maybe more emotionally mature, more compassionate, more loving. And so we get to like replace these things and change the bulbs. But it is the questions that take you deeper. And the more willing you are to look, the more effortlessly you'll see. Now I I I want to simplify this for people who this is their introduction to alchemy. Yeah. Um in a word what does alchemy mean or in a sentence? You know what I mean? Like what you know what's the heart of alchemy? What what is that? I'd say the heart of alchemy is transformation. Yeah. To transform a a substance into a different substance. And so whether we're transforming via the soil maker here, if you haven't seen a soil maker before, you you put the food scraps in the top and then they go into the bottom and the food scraps help turn dirt into soil. And this from this line below, that's all underground. That's underground. So, the worms then become uh this is where they eat, but they they go out into the earth and they distribute all of the nutrients. So, they become your distribution center. Yeah. And you don't have to take any soil out. You just put it in and then it builds soil and then the soil distributes the nutrients and Yeah. So, that's alchemy. So that's a this is a really clear form of alchemy. It's transforming a substance. Then you can also do emotional alchemy where you are afraid of something or you're angry about something and then you transform you know that that fear into courage or you transform that that anger into creation energy or love energy. Compassion or compassion. Yeah. Yeah. like u the soil maker turns your garden into a beautiful garden and it's because of the waste. So like the things you're putting in are actually the food for the garden. And so with the emotional alchemy, it's the same thing. Like when when you and I are talking and we have something sensitive that comes up, we we always say alchemy pot. And that's sort of why we changed the name from just the soil makers to alchemy pot sort of holding the brand is because you know uh it something we said all the time alchemy we didn't say soil maker we said you know alchemy pot and like though this is a soil maker um it's an alchemy pot you know an alchemy pot is what we did was like we had basically like an imaginary like soil maker between us or like a little cup, you know, and and um basically we do this all the time. Yeah. you know, we we put into the cup or put into the pot, the alchemy pot, what it is we're trying to uh transmute, transform um and let go of so that it could then be the the The Soil Maker Metaphor for Inner Alchemy nutrients for more growth in our relationship, in our connection. And it's Yeah. And it's really cool because every time we use the alchemy pot, this stuff that we all have within us, this densities, these uncomfortable conversations, the the fears, every single time we do an alchemy pot and we speak and we put it in the pot, that turns into more love and that turns into more closeness. And every single time something challenging has come up, we've gotten closer and more loving. And and that's the heart of alchemy pot. It's not it's recognizing that these energies, these fears, these densities, these things that we consider waste are actually energy that can be transformed into gold, can be transformed into well-being. And so yeah, it's we also keep saying transformed into gold because historically, right, alchemists were always turning, you know, they were rumored to have figured out how to turn lead into gold. And uh they also created the philosopher stone uh which was the source material for the well they actually changed the name was Philosopher Stone in Harry Potter. Yeah. um they changed it to this the sorcerer stone uh but it was the philosopher stone the original printing u in England because there's a lot of alchemy written and coded into the story I mean even one of the most famous alchemists of all time Nicholas Famel uh is a character in Harry Potter. So there's a cool um lineage there. But I what I wanted to say too was like if if we're two trees and we have an al we have an alchemy pot, you know, we have a soil maker, our fruit, you know, whether it's good fruit or it's moldy fruit. If it ends up in the soil maker, it feeds us, right? It feeds our connection. We get nutrients out of it. And actually the the the soil and the environment around us gets richer because we're using it. We're using the pot. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like that structure that has half underground and half above ground is similar to us if we are trees. We have roots underground. We have a canopy up top. Yeah. And we're feeding the roots, but we're also like breaking up those old patterns and washing out and nourishing those those belief systems and stories that sort of live underground in our psyche and in the root space, you know, where we can't see it. We can see the top of the tree. we can see the canopy, but but if the tree is wilting, we don't know what the hell's going on unless we look underneath into the roots and get to the root of the problem. But then you have to of course get to the soil of the problem. And um when we are using this thing and regenerating the soil, we're affecting both of us plus any other trees that happen to be nearby. Yeah. They get the benefit of us using this thing, too. Mhm. Uh and so that you know in a metaphor in our relationship you know the more we can the more I can dig a food scrap out of my belly you know which is where I hold you know where anybody holds fear you know is in the belly um there's sort of things that like you know can be tempting not to deal with you know. Yeah. Right. like those food scraps you want to just let's just throw it in the trash and and end it up in the landfill. Let's pretend that's not there. Let's let's binge watch another show so we don't have to feel that thing. Exactly. Or let's go drink it. Let's smoke, you know, and nothing wrong with any of those things. But if it is a distraction, if it is something that like is being used in a way that is to avoid and to to disconnect from feeling what's going on inside, then you're you're you're getting further away. You're disconnecting. Yeah. And I think where alchemy serves so many in so many different ways is to bring a inner connection and to transform those things that would be polluting your body, your psyche, or even in the example of the garden, uh, you know, if those food scraps end up in a landfill, they pollute the earth. Yeah. If you don't deal with them, right, but dealing with them could just mean throwing it in a soil maker or putting it in the ground or processing it some way. Um, it's the same thing with our emotions. Our emotions are are like food scraps. If we don't put them in a soil maker in an alchemy pot, they end up in the landfills of our body. Yeah. Which I find is like so much more it's harder to hold them than it is to feel them. And I've seen that in dozens of sessions with clients. Something that's come through that people have said often is, "Wow, I've been afraid of this thing for so long. I've been afraid to face this part of myself for so long. And in the matter of an hour, they face it for the first time. And they go, one, I wish I would have done that a long time ago. And two, it was so much easier to actually face than all these years of burying it down and pretending like it doesn't exist and trying to escape and hide. So, I think the alchemical path is on one level the brave path because you have to actually face it. But on another level, it's actually the most easy and graceful path in this in the grand scheme of your life because it's going to lead to more inner goodness. It's going to lead to more connection. It's going to lead to more love. It's going to lead to more flow. So the densities are actually a great opportunity. Totally. And we recognize that in in our relationship when triggers come up. Like when I get triggered, I'm excited. I'm like I'm like like thank you. Thank you for It takes It takes a minute to realize you're in a trigger, you know, once you realize you're in the trigger. Yeah. Yeah. And we we always call them, you know, golden triggers because we know the alchemical process will turn those triggers into gold. But it's the recognizing that you're in a trigger that gets easier over time the more you do it because you can kind of get on a train that just just takes it. And for years I did that and uh the more I've been able to recognize oh I'm in a I'm like freaking out the a saying that really helps for me is um if it's hysterical it's historical. Yeah. And like that just is like whoa. Okay. So it's it's mine. Uh and that's one of the biggest things about our alchemical process that that we're not our alchemical process but the alchemical process in general is like when you let something go into the pot you're it's yours. Like my food scraps are mine and I'm putting them into the pot. There's self- responsibility there. Yeah. Like you may have said something or did something that made me aware that I had some stuff I needed to let go of. You know, like if I get upset about something really upset about something that, you know, you did, it's like it's usually not something you did that's making me upset. something that you did reminded me of something before that I haven't processed still. And so, yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Well, it's like we're so often projecting our past onto the present moment and whether that's an old wound or something that happened in in childhood. And so when we recognize that our trigger is our responsibility and even if we don't recognize it right away but in the process of time and the more you do this inner work the easier it becomes to recognize it sooner and then when you can get to that moment of recognition of like okay yeah this is this is mine I have self- responsibility for my triggers and in that you already step more into a witness role within yourself because then you're not identified with the density and the um emotions as your main identity. You can then witness them and allow that transformation. So you can do alchemy by yourself. Absolutely. You can do inner alchemy every day in every moment with self-awareness. And how do how do you do alchemy by yourself? Yeah. one stillness. Anytime I just get Golden Triggers & Emotional Composting still, like I like to like wake up in the morning and just sit and when I'm sitting, you know, and I drink coffee. When I'm sitting there, I'm doing alchemy. So, I'm just like witnessing my inner layers and what's going on and what's coming up and what's alive and what are my thoughts and like I'm I'm witnessing myself. And I find the more I take time just to be still, the more inner alchemy naturally happens and the less I'm triggered externally because I'm dealing with what's going on and being with it more and like getting to like look at what's there. So for me, it started through meditation. And when I first started meditating, it was like hours a day, 4 hours a day of just like be with yourself quietly is one way. There's many different ways. And um then over years of time through meditation, I was downloaded this form of guided meditation called inner landscaping. And I was shown an inner landscape. And I was shown how to walk through my own inner landscape and go to these different aspects of my psyche and go into them to release and let go and go into certain ones to create new things and go into certain ones to connect with future versions of myself or past versions of myself or different parts of myself. And so this inner landscaping technique came through in meditation. Um I think simply because I was still enough to to receive the idea and then in meditation it came through and then because I was already doing energy practitioner work which is energy attunement which is clearing the energetic body the emotional body which affects the physical body. I was then able to walk clients through guided journeys into their inner landscape and then help them release things, let things go, create new things, heal different parts of themselves. And so for me um for a long time I spent more time doing inner alchemy and less even external processing with um anyone and then in our relationship it's been such a gift because there's a with anyone that's that's a stretch. I've done plenty of external processing. But what I find is um constantly observing everything. Um, what I But what I am grateful for in our relationship is there's such a a safe place to alchemy pot together that I I'm like getting to alchemy pot things that are super raw that if I wasn't in a relationship where I felt the other person had the capacity to be with those things, I would I wouldn't alchemy pot them in the same way externally. I would do more inner work and then come to the alchemy pot a little more internally resolved which I do think does take awareness and discernment to know everyone's capacity in your relationship to know like okay certain things I need to do within myself and then then bring to the alchemy pot. Yeah. Well, sometimes, you know, the it depends on how willing your partner is to um alchemize things and hold space. Yeah. To hold space and also look at fears and you know, like h how you know, if you want to open a can of worms, how willing are they to receive the worms? You know, that is a that is a real thing. And uh you know this was like I just was wondering like what did I do before I had the alchemy pot process you know like fought for hours argued. Yeah. Wanted to be right. Yeah. The the first step of of the alchemy process is what am I letting go? And what am I letting go and naming that I own? Yes. That is mine. My anger, my resentment, my fear, my doubt, whatever it is, my insecurity, my unworthiness story, my belief system that like is, you know, all the things that um I used to identify with as my own. You know, it's like those are the things that I get to let go when similar things come up like that. You know, it's like whatever is alive in the moment, especially in a trigger, it's a great way to go, you know what? I'm letting this go. I'm letting go of this. And what I love about the first step of letting go is is it's super empowering to recognize like, okay, when something's coming up, you have the power to direct your intention to let go of that. Yeah. You don't have to hold on to it. Unless a part of you wants to, then you will. But when you're ready, you have the option to let go of it. And also recognize with letting go, letting go can happen in layers. We're we're on an upward spiral. So, you know, you might let go of one layer and then the next time it will be a little bit lighter and a little bit easier and a little bit easier and a little bit easier. You end up in the same spot again. Yeah. How you going to react to it this time? And so that's Yeah. And that's I think a healthy thing to acknowledge and recognize is like these things sometimes you let go of something and it's gone forever. And some things times things are more layered and it's part of your journey to let them go in layers. you can have the journey and discover the things and so um have compassion with yourself if you're like I know for me in being you know my one part that can come up within me at times is like being a perfectionist with healing and then if I've let go of something and then it doesn't release all the way there can almost be a frustration of like this is still here again and again and again. Are you kidding me? Yeah. I thought we were over this. I thought we were done with this. Right. But every single time if you are letting go, it it does get easier. And if you give yourself the grace of noticing the subtle micro shifts and also if you're in a partnership like celebrate your partner in their subtle shifts because it matters in the recognition of like, oh, I have come a long way. M. Okay. Yeah, like I am making steps and the more we like celebrate things and appreciate those things, they grow. And so like take those moments within yourself to be like, "Wow, this thing that used to trigger me for weeks is now triggering me for a day or a couple hours or a couple minutes." And so like those recognitions I feel like are a huge part of the overall alchemy process, would you say? So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just just when when you let something go, knowing that you have to let it go again and again and again is sort of a freeing thought because we like to I say we uh a past self of mine likes to be perfect. Likes to have that perfect uh approach to things like I let it go and it's done. Gone forever. here I go again and oh no now I'm a failure now I'm not perfect you know and uh I think well one you know looking into the word perfect has really helped me change my relationship with that word because um you know perfect means complete the the etmology of the word is is to complete to completeness wholeness um and So being perfect then instead of like having this thing that is unattainable and and being frustrated with yourself and punishing yourself for not reaching this unattainable thing which seems like such a you know when you really look at it it's a little silly. Yeah. Um, but it used to like to play a lot in the background, you know, in the subconscious, in the belief systems under the under the the soil, you know, uh, and sort of looking at it now as like, oh, like if I approach it like I'm already complete, then I'm aim I can aim for perfection. from a place of wholeness, from a place of completeness. Like that does like my self-worth is not on what I do whether I reach that goal or not. I'm already whole and complete. You're already I'm already perfect. Exactly. I love that you say that and I think that's a huge component in transformation is recognizing that where you are is already enough and you already are perfect and you already are whole and we're on this human journey here and there's always going to be more to grow and evolve until the day we die because that's part of being a human on this journey. And so knowing that there's nothing wrong when something comes up to transform, it's actually the fuel for more gold. It's the fuel for more. Turn this piece of dirt into a garden. Let Go → Gratitude → Create (Ritual Steps) It's energy. Yeah. It's like, okay, like something wants to open here. It's like it's a gift. Yeah. I think our triggers and our parts, they're they're they're gifts. And we started calling them golden triggers because it's like, okay, there's there's gold. Yeah. Every single time. And the difference between between getting the gold and not is perceiving is your perception. If you perceive that there's gold there, if you perceive if you're in a relationship and your partner gets triggered instead of like, oh no, again, it's like, okay, what gold is here? Mhm. And then like you do that for me all the time. And we sit down and and the gold comes for me. It's it's great. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, oof, we get to we get to treasure hunt and find it like Yeah. Nothing gets done, you know, if you if you have a a liking towards butterflies in your stomach, there's no greater rush than uh facing your deepest fears. Yeah. It's true. you know, it's instead of fueling them, you're not, you know, you're you're there's always more fuel. You overcome. Yeah. There's always more stuff. And there's no better feeling than like getting to the bottom of it and coming to the other side, you know, just like there's no better feeling than watching a flower grow from a seed to a flower. Yeah. You know, or a fruit, you know, getting the fruits of your garden. It's like it Oh, there's nothing better. Nothing better. You know what? For me, what that feels like and I' liked love to hear more on what that feels like for you, but for me when I get through a fear or like an intensity, it feels like I come home to myself. Mhm. And like there's this deep place within that recognizes that none of this matters and all of this matters and it's all a big joke and it's all made up and it's all beautiful and it's all colorful and it's all funny and like there's this part that just knows so strongly within. And every time after that fear transforms, I feel like I I like breathe a little bit deeper into that part and I'm like I arrive a little bit more into my body and I'm just like Yeah. Yeah. It feels like that's to me sounds like just safety. Yeah. Safety in the like home is another word for safety almost, you know? It's like where I feel safe is home is that's what that's what that's how I relate to the word is like where I feel safe and when I feel safe I feel whole. Yeah. I feel complete. I And then something happens and all of a sudden I'm disconnected from that whole safe home that perfect completeness. Totally. something happens and I get and then there's walls in between and there's a disconnect from that safety. And what we're trying to do is give you a tool to take those chunks of armor off and put them back into the whole garden. feed the whole garden with those um with those armors and those those blocks to who you are and the the the the resistance that keeps you from expressing yourself in any way, speaking your mind like what whatever it is that you are, you know, from a deeper calling called to do. Yeah. um whatever is coming through you um that's what we want to honor. That's our nature. That's who we are. A flower blooms into a fl like that's we're all in that way. It's already written. Yeah. We're we're we're blooming as to who we are. And any resistance to that is fear, anger, sadness, the the classic Mhm. you know, regret that heavy the usual suspects, the heavy energies. Yeah. And so so yeah, that's that's what this is for is to kind of throw those into a thing that turns them into the the expression again. This is the this is the alchemy pot. We're calling it our ultimate alchemy pot because it is and and uh it's such an alchemy pot that we use it outside and and and we even use it inside because we just love the the energy of it and the the also it's beautiful and um getting to alchemize every day and getting to you know be with this soil maker has been a a beautiful way to alchemize in your daily life in what you're already doing. Because even if you're busy and you're like, "Oh my gosh, I work a job and I have kids and like I don't have time to process my emotions." First of all, I'd maybe counter that and say, "You don't do you have time not to." And um just to be straightforward. That's a word. And and then secondly, I'd also say I also hear that you're very busy and it could be a lot to go into these densities and there's not always a safe space to do so. And so I hear you in that and there's ways to pair alchemy with everyday ritual. So for us, we use the soil maker and we do it mostly every day outside. We do a letting go ritual. And then this will bring us to our second part of what the ritual is. And we do an alchemy ritual paired with giving our food to the ground. So one, we're giving something very tangible to the earth and contributing to, you know, healing the earth and go to episode one to learn more about the soil maker and and all of that. And two, through just the power of your intention and deciding to alchemize something, you can. And so know that no matter what technique or modality you use, your choice is all is the driving force behind it. And I've seen it like with working with so many clients over the years. It's like the ones who show up and choose to grow, heal, transform do so. And the ones who may show up to the same technique, maybe it everyone's on their own journey and it's beautiful. It takes more time. But some people can, you know, become more like healing addicts and, you know, you've tried every single modality and no modality is working and then you want to, you know, the blame the healer and you you you go modality to modality and you're still working through the same try them all like cars or Yeah. and you're looking for like the best healer and the best who has the most social media following and this and that and all these vanity metrics when none of that actually matters. What truly matters is your choice to heal and How to Practice Alchemy Every Day then following a resonant path. And if you really get that, you might save yourself thousands of hours. I heard thousands of years, but thousands of hours and um and a lot of money. Yeah. And a lot of money and a lot of energy. And so I I just emphasize that point because the power to transform is ultimately within you and your choice to do so. Yeah. Yeah. I mean that reminds me of the book The Alchemist, you know, which was I I for me one of the first times I heard the word, you know, was like the the book and Oh, I I I didn't think of that. Yeah, I definitely heard it then, right? Go ahead. Um great book. Yeah. Uh yeah, and you know it it's like it's within you all along. I don't want to I mean that might be a spoiler, so sorry. Um it's okay. I I consider spoilers like anything that even is remotely close to giving anything away of the plot of the story of the book. Even if someone's like there's a twist somewhere, it's I'm like I didn't want to. Why did you tell me that? I don't want to hear that. Like I don't want to be looking now. Now I'm looking for a twist. Yeah. Where's the twist? Well, that wasn't much of a twist. Anyway, that's sort of my uh changes the perception of of experience. Yeah. Which is interesting. Yeah. And I, you know, I think um Oh, that's a good metaphor of also like Yeah. Go ahead. like um in the alchemy process within yourself, you have sovereignty over yourself, but other people on their journey are on their journey. So sometimes if you give if you notice something within someone else and you're like you give them the spoiler of their own journey, they might go, "Ooh, I didn't want to know that." And now you've pointed out like my biggest thing and I wasn't quite ready for that. And so like I need to still read the book. So there's something in that. That's probably why I hate it so much cuz I do it so much. Yeah. And I go, "Oh, well, it's that thing. That's the thing." And I know it's the thing. But they don't want to hear that unless they're willing and they do. Like I know I appreciate that and I appreciate it too because you see those things. But when someone's not there and they're not wanting to do alchemy and they're wanting to just have the natural alchemy of life take them on their alchemical journey which is beautiful. Yeah. Then sometimes giving the spoiler is not going to be as serving. And I also see that in working with clients I might see what they're working through and their biggest fear and what they need within 3 seconds of them sitting down. I'd be doing a huge disservice if I just pointed to it without guiding them there so they could see it for themselves. Because nine times out of ten, unless you're with someone who's already really self-aware, like I can point things out to you and you get it cuz you're already like you're so willing. But nine times out of ten in my experience that when someone can discover it within themselves, it's going to be a lot more powerful because they're going to make direct contact internally with the mechanism that wants to transform. And that's where the holding the the witness space and just holding and like gently guiding and gently asking those questions rather than like spoiling the whole thing um becomes a really powerful thing. I've noticed when I put food into the soil maker, certain things take longer than others to break down and they break down in their time. There we go. You know, it's it's like the same. They're like it. Don't touch it. Don't break like don't less is more. Just hold the space. And um if Yeah. If the bottom becomes liquid, you know, it just doesn't it doesn't hold. Well, then the earth holds the space ultimately. The earth but in the metaphor doing that too. Um, but you know, then you have to keep digging holes and that's sort of the benefit of the soil makers. You you don't have to dig the holes. It just it doesn't break down. So um so it's a clear held space. There's a held space. Yeah. So that you can keep going to there and you can keep pulling out the goods from inside. Mhm. Um because you know you can trust that the integrity of that space that it's not going to cave, it's not going to leak. There it does. It is permeable. Yep. Underground, but only underground. So only where no one else can see is it actually distributing those back to the earth. Yeah. And so like which is back into the wholeness of creation. Yeah. And the permeability is interesting because it's like whatever is needed for it to break down can come in. So, you know, whether that's worms or different kinds of bugs or whatever needs to come in there for that particular kind of food scrap will come in there because it's permeable. And I think it's the same thing with our inner emotions, inner selves. Whatever is needed to come in and kind of break that piece down will come in. Which is why you might be drawn to like a heal like a a energy healing. You might be drawn to like a body worker. You might be drawn to a particular teacher. You might do a little bit in your relationship. And like all of these things are coming in the holes to help you break that thing down and it's permeable and you'll get exactly what you need for that piece of, you know, food scrub inner inner peace that wants to transform. So that permeability I think is really key. Totally. It's not a rigid thing. It's not a one-sizefits-all. It's it's No, you have to have the space for for life to bring in the right catalyst. Mhm. You know, and that is the alchemy space is that like there's some sort of declaration to the earth or to your world. Yeah. that you are ready for to have the right organism come in and break down that thing for you. And and the other thing is, you know, I picture myself when I'm feeling a lot. Yeah. as a soil maker in my belly. Like I will breathe into my belly and like put as much air as I possibly can into my belly because when my fear is up against the walls, it's like, you know, it's it's my younger self, you know, is in beating on the walls and and it just oh, you know, it feels so uh intense. Yeah. Um, but more I can just send air to it and make space for it so it's not so crammed, the more I'm actually acknowledging that it's there and allowing it to be there and giving it space. giving it space, giving it space to breathe and transform. Cuz some of it's a little kid, some of it's a teenager, you know, and if I'm constantly I like Closing & Invitation this metaphor. It's like I'm driving my life uh and I'm driving the car and the metaphor of my life and next to me is my teenager and in the back seat is the kid and in the other seat is the baby, you know, and it's all the different versions of me that are with me in the car. And for a while I used to drive and just say shut up to anybody who was talking in the car, you know, the something happens. I see something on the road and the baby starts crying and I'm like sh just shut up, you know, and then I'm talking to myself, you know, and and you know, then the the teenager's like, I just I just want to, you know, like what whatever the teenager saying, you know, and and the and the kids getting like, you know, raging out on some other thing and and and you know, these things uh not all at once, sometimes all at once uh but you know, each part of me is in there with me. And for a long time, I used to just pretend that they weren't there and try to just tune them out and keep driving. And what would happen is I would get distracted. I would get overwhelmed and then one of them would reach over and grab the wheel and start driving my life. Mhm. The teenager would take it into one direction and the who and the the kid would take it to another direction and you know the the kids's no good at driving. It's a it's a kid doesn't know how to drive. Yeah. Can't reach the pedals. Yeah. And you know the teenager knows how to drive but not to the places I want to go you know and the baby certainly doesn't know how to drive but if no one else will drive they'll drive. And so the more I could just acknowledge them and say, "Hey, it's okay. You can be here. Let me let me open a window. Do you need to yell out the window? Whatever you need, like we'll create a space where you can be." But I'm driving. Yeah. And then I found that I could drive more uh because I wasn't so overwhelmed trying to stuff down these emotions from these other parts that I wasn't allowing to exist. Yeah. I love that. It's a it's powerful and such a healthy recognition because we all have all these different parts within us and we have the choice always to be like I'm I'm driving and but then to also give space for those parts to to speak to share to heal to learn to get a new job you know if they're constantly controlling something. Well, maybe make that part really good at handling your organization or keeping track of time or like whatever you need, you know, that's helpful to your life and you can employ them into that direction. And I love that that metaphor in the sense that it just so clearly puts like you as yourself and your soul. You are the driver. Your mature knowing self is driving the car. And no matter how loud any of the other parts get, if you know that you're driving the car, then you with clarity, you can talk to the teen teenager and be like, "Okay, you want to you want to stop for fast food? Why? Like what do you need? What does that fast food mean to you? Why? Like why why do you need fast food right now? Are you okay?" And then they find you find out the teenager's just really really hungry and can't wait. And then when you find that out, you can go, "Oh, well, actually, I brought these really healthy snacks. Do you want, if you're really hungry right now, why don't we have these healthy snacks?" You can invite that teenager into a new way of being. And then the teenager eats the healthy snacks, satiates the hunger, and they don't feel sick afterwards. And all of a sudden, they're like, "Oh my gosh, these healthy snacks and this healthy food is way better than the fast food. I feel so much better after I eat it. I feel more connected to myself. I have so much better energy. And instead of shaming the teenager or making them wrong, you invited forward a new pathway. Yeah. By working with the part and then very quickly it becomes much easier. Yeah. Yeah. It's like you were saying earlier, you know, it's like it's more painful to keep driving with upset teenager and kid and baby in the car. Yeah. Um, you know, and just keep I just got to keep driving. It's like you're going to get overwhelmed and somebody else is going to grab the wheel, pull over, see what they need. Mhm. Do they need to go to the bathroom? Do they need to, you know, like what what is it that they're trying to tell you something? You know, the baby's had a wet diaper for an hour. Like, what do you think is going to happen? Yeah, they're crying. You know, so the more you can check in and and just hold a space for the parts of yourself which is the self alchemy. Yeah. Then um the the easier it is to keep driving from the seat of the soul from to like having the the soul expression go out into the world. Yeah. Yeah. And I'd say that's the first step is the inner alchemy. And then when you have a grasp on yourself at least a little bit then bringing that into your relationship one becomes more possible and two you feel like okay I can alchemize these things without just you know uh going into arguments or fighting or any of those things because there's ways to face challenge constant constantly with alchemy and to come into more love and honesty and connection and this whole paradigm of like we have to yell and scream at each other and then hold resentments and then not talk about it for years and then get mad at each other and then go lie to each other and like that whole paradigm I truly believe can be alchemized and transformed into a paradigm of connection and love and our challenges aren't going to go away. That's part of being the adventure of being human. But how we face them can always shift. And when we're coming through the lens of alchemy, we always have the opportunity to turn whatever challenge into more gold and more love and and to have compassion for yourself in the alchemy process. If if you mess up, if you're like, "Oop, I didn't get it in the pot." Or, "Oop, I noticed I had some blame." Or, "Oop, I noticed I said something like What do you mean get it in the pot?" Yeah. So if you're so say you have the pot right here and say you're you're alchemizing something but if you start emotionally throwing up onto another person and not directing the energy into the pot into the soil maker then the other person might start to feel like drained or attacked or or like some part of you then left self- responsibility and went into victim and went into blame. And so when it doesn't get into the pot, then you know those are good moments to just pause and breathe. And those are actually great moments if you're in a safe container for more love to happen and actually really deep alchemy to happen. If you go like, "Okay, we missed the pot a little bit. All right, let's just breathe deeper. Let's actually lean in closer." If you're with someone who can have the capacity to do that, I'd say first and foremost. But if you are, then okay, we missed part of the pot. Are we willing to recognize we missed part of the pot? Okay, now we can stay in the pot because we can recognize part of us missed the pot. Okay, what part's not taking self- responsibility? What part's blaming? And then like through that process you actually enter a bigger alchemy pot because you touch the mechanisms of um victim and blame and and that are still attached to whatever that trigger is. So right. So another way of putting it is like if we're in the garden and I'm taking out my food scraps but instead of getting it into the pot I'm getting it all over the garden and the other tree. Yeah. And if we're both trees, you're like, "What the hell?" Like, "This is not feeding me." You know, the food, it has to go to the go the soil in order for my roots to take it in. I can't, you know, don't just throw it on my, you know, it actually can make me uh, you know, sick. Yeah. Tree, you know, trees can get sick. They can get sick with um, you know, if you if you cut off a branch or break a branch, they can get diseases. They can, you know, with open wounds. And if they have like food scraps decomposing on them, that can turn into an illness for the tree. And so if we're dumping our our scraps, our angers and resentment, fears like on to each other, which is very common. Um then we're we're not alchemizing these things. We're actually well sometimes we'll alchemize it on accident. You know, it's like just sort of in the venting process. I did feel a little better, but venting this is like it's a big shift. Big shift venting an alchemy to using an alchemy pot and like turning that into soil. Yeah. And even in that example, say you recognize like you know cuz again the process of becoming an alchemist I think is a is also a journey. So, if you recognize you use the alchemy pot and you accidentally got food scraps on the tree, it's okay. Just in that moment, go, "Okay, I need to go pick those up. Okay, I need to I need to call that energy back and put it in the pot." And you always have the ability to do that. And then that becomes a deeper alchemy. So, it's like alchemy within alchemy, which I think is a a a bigger pot. But I love what you're touching on with venting versus alchemy because a alchemy pot is not a space for venting or like gossip or like it's it well I I would say this it's venting doesn't have the focused energy containment and direction of energy when you're directing um your waste, you're dumping into a into a container that's going to alchemize it. You're not going onto the other person. And and like when you're venting, it's just sort of going like I just needed to get it out of me and I didn't really make sure it got into somewhere that was safe. Exactly. I sort of got it on you. I got it on this person. I went over there and I vented and I just needed to vent and then everybody else picked up what I was venting. I'm sure you've been on the receiving end of venting where someone vents and you just feel drained and tired afterwards like whoa threw up a lot of stuff on me right now. Um yeah and I used to do that a lot. I used to go just oh it's blah blah blah just like whatever was I was dealing with I just needed to talk about it and like and that's okay to talk about it. I just think when you have the structure when you have something that looks like this mental structure too of like okay I'm going to let go of my anger. I'm letting go of what is mine and then I'm processing it underground so it can turn into the the what I really need so that uh you know the the process really helps turn what would normally turn into venting or arguing or gossiping or whatever the the common ways to um deal with our problems are. It turns it into something that like helps the whole. It allows it to transform. And one way I'd also say that is like when you vent, you may emotionally purge in the moment and then feel better for a little while because you've released it. But if you're not alchemizing and shifting the pattern, then guess what? Tomorrow at work, you're going to get triggered about the same thing. And then you're going to have to vent again and again and again and again and again and again and again because there's no level of internal shift happening. So your reactions to the situations will remain the same for a longer period of time. Whereas alchemy is a process of of deeper witnessing and self-re recognition. And so when you're doing alchemy work again it's an upward spiral. It's it's not necessarily an immediate fix, but it will get easier and you'll be on the journey with your intention. Like there's an you know there's a triangle in our logo for a reason because there's a direction and there's a direction of that energy and what's the point? Yeah, exactly. What's the point? And when we're directing the energy for transformation and we have a positive intent, then that will occur so long as we show up for it and and hold the space. And um so alchemy creates gold. Venting may have temporary release, but then may have residue onto someone else or otherwise. So it's good to have that distinction, I think. Yeah. So, I would love to just dive into the alchemy process. Yeah. The next step like this. Well, and and just lay out all the steps so that we have at least somewhere where we're um laying out sort of just like here's the alchemical process that we're really talking about. Here's the whole thing. Simply put, the three steps that you need to do this process. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go back and forth. What's step one? Step one, if you can guess, if you've been listening, step one is letting go. So letting go takes a certain amount of self- responsibility because you're saying I am letting go of my anger, resentment, fear, doubt, whatever it is you're ready to let go of my back pain, my shoulder, what whatever it is that you're done with that is that is really just taking from you that you'd like to let go of, you own it and you say, I'm letting go of my blank. So that's step one. And step one is is, you know, is a death. You know, the alchemical process is a rebirth. And so the the first step is is a metaphorical death. Yeah. Is the death of what you're letting go. It's the death of the food scrap. It's the decomposition. It's when it goes underground. And in the underground space is where it can really transform. Mhm. So um that's step one is yeah letting go. So we write that as I am letting go of and then step two is what are you grateful for? So we speak this part out loud and we invite you to just speak speak out loud when you're doing the process. What are you grateful for? the sun, the moon, your family, like just whatever comes to you and you feel in your heart to speak those things. When you're in a state of gratitude, I think it's impossible for the brain to be in a state of fear. And it's also a huge pallet cleanser. So after the let go, it clears the energy to put you in a higher vibrational state before step three. Step three is creation. So now that we've cleared out and made space and then sort of saged the space with the gratitude, right? Like we've we've cleared the energy of the thing we let go. Now it's time to put in the intention of what we want to create and what we are creating now. So we're not saying I want to create abundance and uh love and you know someday. So it's like you have to put it in the present tense otherwise it's always going to be one step away. It's always going to be somewhere out there. It's always going to be in the future someday. And so then you're declaring that you're you want to be in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction of always longing for the thing. Um and so that's why it's important to write down I am creating love, faith, joy, laughter, connection now. Yeah. Like right now that's what I'm creating and I'm creating it every day. And so then, you know, it's really powerful to have a direct line of energy from the let go to the creation. Like maybe it's the opposite of what you let go of. Um, but it doesn't have to be. And it's just putting intention every day into what you're creating. So then that's the process. It's really it's really what you bring to it that makes all the difference. Exactly. And so it's a simple three-step process. And one thing I'll add to the creation process is and same with the letting go in general, we invite these to be a really a felt thing, not just a mental thing. So when you're letting go, really feel internally the parts of you that are releasing that. And if some emotion comes up, if a feeling comes up, if you need to kind of like let some energy into the ground or scream or like be with the intensity, allow it to be a visceral process, not just a mental process. With the gratitude, allow that to be felt in the cells of your body with the creation. When you're creating something, what's the feeling state? What's the vibration that you're creating when you think of that thing? You know, what's the feeling that it's going to bring you? and and presence that in the ritual and it will make it a hundred times more powerful. Yes. Yeah. Completely agree. I think um I I I I hope this is is helpful to you. Um would love to hear your experience in using this process. Uh it is you know our our goal is to talk about this so it's something you can take home with you something you could take home in your own you know personal alchemy space but also in your relationship in your many relationships in your community in uh whatever context you see fit. This is a very useful tool that can kind of fit anywhere like the soil maker. It could fit in a backyard garden. It could fit in a school. It could be in a city park. It could replace the trash can. It, you know, we're our mission is creating these sort of tools to help people uh alchemize and regenerate their world, their land, their whatever. Yeah. External and internal. Yeah. And to have that transformation. And so we invite you to be on this alchemy journey with us. And our website is alchemy pot.com where you can go and you can pre-order a soil maker if you want to be at the, you know, part of being one of the first owners of a soil maker on the planet. And see all that on the website and stay tuned. And then also look out for our Patreon and other offerings that will all be on our website and all of that will help contribute to bringing this movement forward and also keeping this podcast alive. So all of the support is really appreciated and go to our website uh alchemypot.com to put in any questions you have for the show. Uh we'd love to answer some of the questions you have. We're starting with just sharing what we know, but you know, we'll bring on the questions. So, if you have a question about anything, alchemy, inner soil, like write down personal questions, just write them down. And we're we're here to bring light to these deeper conversations and be honest and transparent and share what we know and also bring on guests in the future who can, you know, help teach so that we can all grow together. Yeah. Yeah. and your questions and your feedback, that's all food scraps for our garden. So, um it we don't see it as waste. I hope that your perspective on this shifts as well. Yeah. That there's no such thing as waste. There's just no such thing sil it's a it's a construct that we made, you know, that we believe in. So it exists in the form of maybe plastic or styrofoam. We had to create waste, real waste. But as far as food scraps are concerned and uh any kind of emotions or stories or what whatever it is, it's not waste. It's food for the land that then feeds us and we're in a circle with that. So we are in a circle and connected to you guys and your questions and your engagement keeps this energy sort of going and flowing. And so we encourage uh you to reach out on our website and yeah join our our global community that's forming and be a part of this alchemy movement. And so thank you so much. Thank you so much for being here and until next time. Much love. Thanks for caring. Thanks for caring. That ain't waste. It's just gold that hasn't realized itself yet.