Film as a Form of Alchemy and Magick

By 

Wyatt Whittier

The alchemists had their hearts set to find a way to turn ordinary metal into gold. Those well-versed in the esoteric study of alchemy will learn that “gold” comes from within. While alchemy was in fact a real process, only the alchemist who sought truth and enlightenment could turn ordinary metal into gold. Those who sought only for gold failed to create anything of value. Film is, in essence, the creation of gold from ordinary elements. Light and sound, if combined in precisely the right way by someone well-versed in their craft, and with the proper tools, will become “gold” both symbolically, and literally. 

Alchemy is defined by the merriam-webster dictionary as “a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way.” In our secular and obtusely rational world, even magick has been normalized. If any other generation were to have seen films the way we do today, they would have regarded it objectively as magick. Knowing how something works does not inherently take the wonder or mystery of it away. In fact, alchemy, astrology, and magick were viewed as actual sciences with the goal of discovering how things work and how to apply them. The idea that a song or a film can affect a person’s life and emotions without rational reasoning is a supernatural occurrence. Some may try to refute this as a psychological or chemical phenomenon, but even the scientific explanations for these changes do not fully explain why or how they happen. For instance, a person may consciously know they need to confront a negative boss, but be unable to do it due to a lack of willpower or courage. This person may see a film where an oppressive character is overpowered by the courage of a single person, and have enough strength to then stand up to oppressive characters in their own life, such as their boss. While this person logically knew they needed to stand up to their boss, or even had been encouraged by others to stand up, they may not “naturally” have had the strength or willpower to do so. When a film is able to grant someone with abilities or emotions beyond what is “natural” this could be categorized as a “supernatural” occurrence. 

Early Filmmakers and the Occult

Some of the earliest filmmaker’s considered film as a form of magick. Many even considered it magick even if they knew how and why film was possible. Many pioneers of film started as chemists, such as Birt Acres – the inventor of the cinemagraph and british filmmaker. Perhaps the first mise-en-scene director, Georges Méliès, started his career as an illusionist and a magician. He was captivated by film unequivocally and entirely. While the Lumiere Brothers wanted to film what they saw, Georges Méliès wanted to film what nobody could see. He created films about mysticism and the occult, angels and demons, and life and death. His films were often critical of the Age of Enlightenment and the strict adherence to rational thinking that had gained traction over the last century. We can see these attitudes in the most famous scene from his film “A Trip to the Moon.” A rocketship shoots up to space and hits the moon right in the eye!  While many may take this as simply a funny gag, it shows the film’s true purpose being rooted in environmentalism and transcendentalism. Méliès wasn’t the only early European filmmaker with interest in the mystical and unexplainable. German 1920s filmmaker F. W. Murnau, most famous for his adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula “Nosferatu,” was deeply involved in magick the occult. Murnau even created a film based on “Goethe’s Faust,” a story about an alchemist that is caught between using his powers for Mephisto or for God. It’s important to note that this film was created at a time where rationalism and existentialism was on the rise. This film was swimming against the current of philosophies that were popular at the time. Likewise, F.W Murnau was also a part of Occultist Aleister Crowley’s famous esoteric organization, “The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.”  Since Murnau had a very mystical outlook on life, it is unlikely that his films were not a part of his magical pursuits. Crowley himself said, “Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will.” It would make sense for Murnau to apply his deeply esoteric beliefs into his films about the occult and the mystical. 

The Axiom of Maria

A famous precept in alchemy called the Axiom Of Maria states, “One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth.” In film, we take clip one, and put it with clip two. These two clips become three, as they create a whole new image with the context they provide each other. Yet, these three images are still “one image,” thus the one comes as the fourth. In film, this is known as the Kuleshov effect. This means that we derive more meaning from two clips put together than we do two single clips on their own. A clip of a man making a neutral face may not mean anything to us; but when placed before a clip of a dog playing, we assume he is happy. If we place the same clip before a clip of a woman crying, we may assume he is consoling her. This effect shows us that putting two clips together does in effect create a third clip, that creates one full story as the fourth.

The Philosopher’s Stone

On top of the search for the way to create gold from ordinary metal, alchemists sought to create The Philosopher’s Stone- a stone that was able to create the elixir of life, a fluid that when drunk, would provide the consumer with the sustenance for eternal life. As with the gold, this was of course deeply symbolic. The alchemists were searching for “sustenance for eternal life.” As the Savior Jesus Christ said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The alchemists were looking for a way not just to live forever, but to have life eternal. In the early days of film, before the digital days in which we now live, filmmaking was a literal alchemical process.  The process of developing film is incredibly similar to the process of creating The Philosopher’s Stone. I will now explain the alchemical process and how it relates to the process of developing film.

Step 1 – Calcination

To create the philosopher’s stone, the alchemist must first burn the base material into a new substance. Alchemists believe in the idea of Materia Prima, which is the idea that all things come from the same formless base material. All film frames start out as the same material. A shot of a whole city fits into the same frame as a shot of a rat in the subway. All is contained within the confines of the frame. For the filmmaker, calcination means the light must burn an image into the film. Interestingly enough, a metal many alchemists worked with was silver. Film also uses silver halide crystals that react when exposed to light. In other words, the image is burned into the silver. Some of the earliest images ever captured were taken on silver, tin, and copper- each of which were historically used in alchemy.

Step 2 – Dissolution 

In alchemy, the material is now bathed in water and dissolved. This “dissolving” is also symbolic of the parts of ourselves that are buried. It is the first dive into the unconscious mind.  While there may not be “water” during the film process, the symbols are still there. The stage of dissolution is also called the “Dark Night of the Soul” in many instances. This is because we are ignited within, but still repressed in darkness.  In film, the frames are buried in darkness waiting to reveal their unknown images to us. The images already exist within, but they must go through the alchemical process to show their true form.

Step 3 – Separation 

Now, the alchemist takes the material and separates the impure elements from the pure. Separation is the dividing into two parts. Everything that is not pure is removed. The film is now dipped into the “developer bath”, which dissolves everything that isn’t the image. The image begins to come into view. The unrevealed begins to reveal. 

Step 4 – Conjunction

This pure material is now reintegrated with other non-pure materials to create a new element. In alchemy, this often includes mixing in new chemicals to the material to create chemical stability. This is often referred to as the sacred union or sacred marriage. This step in the process is meant to create an element that is balanced and naturally unchanging. Following the steps with film, the film is then taken and bathed in new chemicals called a “stop bath.” This stops the film from overdevelopment and creates a balanced and stable image. The lights and the darks become more clearly defined and the chemicals revert the negative into a positive image. In other words, the image settles down and the chemicals unite into a stable, viewable image.

Step 5 – Fermentation 

The alchemist takes the stable element and  introduces bacteria and organic matter to break down the material even more. The fermentation process allows things to break down into a more purified state, while maintaining the general qualities. In film, the image is washed in a “fixing bath” which breaks down any unexposed silver pieces of the image to prevent further exposure over time.

Step 6 – Distillation 

To cleanse and purify this new element, it is boiled and condensed repeatedly. The element only remains in essence and purity. The old material has become a new element entirely.  The film is washed, dried and cleansed, it has become a new image entirely. We now see its perfect and pure state.

Step 7 – Coagulation 

The material, having now been purified, crystallizes into the philosopher’s stone. In the right hands, this stone can be used to create beauty and life.  The film is “printed,” being ready for projection or editing. All polarities are now settled, and the perfect image has been revealed. In the right hands, the film can be used to create beauty and life. 

While not an exact translation, it is evident that the process of developing film could be rightly called an alchemical process. The film starts as the prima materia, and transforms into a beautiful physical manifestation of not only reality, but reality as the alchemist sees it.

Light and Sound

 A common principle of alchemy is that of The Fifth Element. The Fifth Element is also known as aether, spirit, or quintessence. Alchemy is rooted in the belief that the mind, or consciousness can manipulate the world around us, as our spirits can interact with the spirit within all things. This further explains why alchemists believed metal could be turned to gold only through personal enlightenment. Modern quantum physics tells us that when we look at the universe in the most basic level, everything is considered  a wave. Even matter, at its most fundamental level, is simply a wave. Einstein coined this term the Unified Field Theory.  In this sense, the alchemists were quite prophetic with their beliefs of prima materia; everything does indeed come from one source material.  Filmmaking is the capturing and manipulating of these waves, light and sound, to create something entirely new. When we look at film this way, it can be viewed as a modern form of alchemy. It’s bringing the internal world into the external world through the literal manipulation of light. 

A Warning from the Alchemists

The skilled filmmaker is filled with incredible power that can be used for either light or dark magick. Film has been used through the ages for entertainment, propaganda, education, experimentation, and documentation – all of which are shared functions of magic. Those who create films strictly “for gold” will create nothing of value. Old folklore tells us many tales of alchemists who were killed by greedy kings demanding gold. Kings would hear tales of these men who were able to turn ordinary metal into gold. Greedy for gold, the king would bring the alchemist into captivity and demand them to make gold. Since this “gold” was a physical manifestation of the heart of the alchemist, they were unable to produce the gold in the state of captivity and depression motivated by the greed of a foolish king. When a filmmaker is held captive and motivated strictly by the greed of a foolish corporation, they fail to create gold. They may succeed in creating what the alchemists called “common gold,” but they will never create “philosophical gold.”

Conclusion

Although the modern world may reject such things as foolish and outdated, alchemy shares incredible parallels with filmmaking. Both the alchemist and the filmmaker share the common goal of revealing the unrevealed through chemical process, manipulation of light and sound, and emulation of the Axiom of Maria. My hope is for filmmakers to realize the incredibly powerful things they are working with, and for film audiences to realize what they are witnessing right before their eyes. The world’s modern lens rejects anything mystical, yet these questions and processes still exist. You hold incredible power even with just a camera and some light.