“ Alchemy is the process of transmutation, or transformation. Alchemy can be perceived as a philosophical system, a proto-science, or a symbolic representation of a path to psychological development. The alchemical process is said to transform a substance or a person through a set number of stages, progressing from a less pure to its purest form. The base substance is known as Prima Materia, or the primal matter. The purified end product is the Philosopher’s Stone. In traditional (literal) alchemy, the Magnum Opus represented the transmutation from lead (prima materia) into gold (purest expression) by using the Philosopher’s Stone. In the Gnostic tradition, a psychological interpretation was overlayed on this transmutation process. Here, the prima materia are the alchemists themselves. The transformation of the individual occurs on the level of the psyche (or soul). The goal of the Magnum Opus from a Jungian viewpoint is individuation, the arrival of a state of wholeness. For Jung, alchemy served as a bridge between the ancient Gnostics and the modern psychology of the unconscious. He writes in his autobiography, Memories, Dreams and Reflections :

“ Only after I had familiarized myself with alchemy did I realize that the unconscious is a process, and that the psyche is transformed or developed by the relationship of the ego to the contents of the unconscious […] Through the study of these collective transformation processes and through understanding of alchemical symbolism I arrived at the central concept of my psychology: the process of individuation ".