How the Alchemical steps link together in Golden Dawn Alchemy.

Over the years, I have often been asked how my own Golden Dawn alchemical system of three, seven, and twelve stages fits together into a single coherent framework. The answer is far simpler than many expect, and it aligns closely with the colour harmonics of the Rose Cross Lamen, where the interplay of triads, septenaries, and dodecads forms a unified symbolic architecture. In alchemy, the three great operations, Separation, Purification, and Cohobation, provide the overarching structure. These three phases are not arbitrary divisions but fundamental movements of the Work: the breaking apart of the substance, the cleansing of its components, and the recombination of the purified parts into a perfected

whole. Within these three movements, the seven classical operations unfold as specific techniques or gestures, each governed by a planetary force and each contributing to the transformation of the materia.

The first great phase, Separation, corresponds to the element of Air, the principle of division, discernment, and the unveiling of hidden distinctions. Within this airy domain lie the operations of Calcination, Solution, and Sublimation. Calcination, governed by Mars, burns away the coarse and the superfluous, reducing the substance to its essential mineral core. Solution, under the influence of Venus, dissolves the calcined matter into its fluid state, allowing subtle and gross components to part company. Sublimation, ruled by Jupiter, elevates the volatile principle upward, separating it from the fixed and revealing the inner spirit of the material. Together, these three operations enact the full gesture of Separation: the breaking down, dissolving, and lifting apart of the substance so that its inner nature becomes accessible.

The second phase, Purification, corresponds to Fire, the element of refinement, illumination, and the burning away of impurity. Here we find the operations of Purification proper and Distillation. Purification, governed by the Moon, cleanses the separated components, washing away the residues that cloud their virtue. Distillation, under the rulership of Mercury, repeatedly volatilizes and condenses the purified essence, raising it to a higher level of subtlety with each cycle. These two operations work together to refine the material to a state of clarity and luminosity. Purification removes the coarse residues that Separation exposed, while Distillation elevates the purified essence through repeated cycles of ascent and descent. This is the fiery heart of the Work, where the substance becomes increasingly transparent to spirit.