The IOGT and Alchemy

We incorporate many forms of alchemy into the curriculum of the IOGT. Strickly speaking, Alchemy is any practice that sets in motion the process of transformation within a person or object. Thus, anything from chemistry to psychotherapy to meditation can qualify as alchemy. We incorporate psychotherapy and meditation into our IOGT alchemical catechism as well as Hatha Yoga, Tai Chi, fasting and Vision Quests, Mantra repetition, and reception of the Holy Spirit. Alchemy and Gnosticism are, basically, two sides of the self-same coin. They are inter-supportive and each leads to the other. Thus, within a Gnostic sect such as the IOGT, Alchemy becomes imperative. Of course, a Gnostic Templar can have flashes of Gnostic awareness without going through an intensive alchemical process, but an alchemical transformation is necessary to permanently stabilize this expansive awareness in the normally dense physical body. Another way of understanding the relationship between Alchemy and Gnosticism was anciently set forth by the Gnostic sects, who recognized the Serpent on the Tree in the Garden of Eden as the first teacher of their path of Gnosticism. The legendary Serpent on the Tree was, for the Gnostics, a metaphor for the alchemical force of Kundalini in the human body, which normally lies dormant at the base of the human spine. They knew that the true path of Gnosticism begins with its awakening.