Releasing June 15
What did the alchemists really seek when they watched metals darken, whiten, and redden in their furnaces? Gold—or the soul?
In this luminous classic, Marie-Louise von Franz, C.G. Jung’s closest collaborator, guides readers into the symbolic heart of alchemy, where laboratory experiment and inner transformation were understood as one and the same work. Drawing on centuries of Western and Islamic alchemical texts, she reveals how the mysterious images of nigredo, albedo, and rubedo describe not only chemical change, but the timeless drama of human individuation: the struggle of opposites—matter and spirit, masculine and feminine, chaos and order—toward a living unity.
Far from being a relic of superstition, alchemy emerges here as a profound psychology of creativity, suffering, and renewal. Von Franz shows how the alchemists’ quest for the philosopher’s stone mirrors our own search for meaning in a world that still cannot resolve the riddle of psyche and matter.
This new English translation, meticulously prepared from the authoritative 2008 German edition and the original English sources by Alison Kappes, restores the clarity, depth, and poetic precision of von Franz’s thought. Enriched with scholarly notes, images, and an expanded bibliography, it offers both newcomers and seasoned readers an unparalleled gateway into the symbolic world that inspired Jung and continues to illuminate the modern psyche.
A timeless work, reborn for a new generation of seekers.
