“Alchemy isn’t a precursor to modern science, or a set of outdated superstitions. It’s a process - a process through which we reach our highest possible potential It’s supposed to be a solitary, lonely, and confusing process….like cutting out way through a jungle, as Crowley described the hermeticism in general. During this process, we ultimately arrive at our destination, which has been described as “squaring the circle”, or the union of opposites, which means to materialize the spiritual, and spiritualize the material. To reach the understanding that there is no difference in heaven and earth. They are one and the same After squaring the circle…spiritualizing the material and materializing the spiritual…realizing heaven and earth are the same place…this is when phase two of the journey begins. This is where magick ends and Zen begins. There is nowhere to go…nothing to achieve…there is only here and now. The future and past are illusions, and only now is real. So we begin the process of trying to wring everything we can out of the present moment. Every ounce of knowledge, wisdom, and development. And this is why I love karate. Why it became such an important part of my life and spiritual practice”
- Damien Echols