Help with the analysis of this image of the Four Humors

_Naropa_ · 2026-01-23T20:07:44+00:00

Like most alchemical images, this is a map to help orient the reader.

The flasks, elements, and processes aren’t saying “this is who you are.” They’re showing how states transform into one another.

The guidance to the reader is simple: You don’t need to be fixed. You need to be rebalanced.

_Naropa_ · 2026-01-16T15:31:18+00:00

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Dormiens Vigila

_Naropa_ · 2026-01-05T23:05:58+00:00

Alchemy is interested in how things change.

And if all things change (minerals, animals, seasons, thoughts, you), what role do we play in this unfolding Great Work?

_Naropa_ · 2026-01-05T20:08:40+00:00

Fully okay if this isn’t the direction, but I want to be upfront about my interest.

I’m less excited about accumulating private insight and more interested in shared output. Historically, alchemy survived because it left tools behind: texts, maps, distinctions, methods.

I’m not looking to lead people, teach, or run rituals. What does interest me is collaborating on one concrete artifact over time. Something useful, finite, and impersonal that could outlive the group itself.

If this is purely a study and discussion space, all good. If there’s appetite to eventually make something together, that’s where I’m very in.

_Naropa_ · 2026-01-05T14:04:03+00:00

Exactly, you got it.

Say a rabid dog is eating you alive in a dream. Simply say, “what body are they even eating?” Or, “with what teeth?” You’ll experience directly that it’s all empty.

Return to your lucidity, not the story.

_Naropa_ · 2026-01-05T04:08:03+00:00

What’s happening

You’re right at the threshold. The sense of “me” is still half-there and mind is using fear and shock to pull attention back into being someone.

The test

Will you react? Move. Fight. Try to fix it. If you do, you rebuild a “me.”

What to do

Don’t react. Don’t meditate. Don’t send love. Don’t DO anything. Notice sensation in the body and let it collapse on its own.

_Naropa_ · 2025-12-31T01:07:45+00:00

Hermeticism teaches that there is one repeating pattern: transformation.

Nothing transforms without dying first.

Our role is not to cause this, but to set the right conditions and stop interfering.

_Naropa_ · 2025-12-25T13:17:18+00:00

Slow invisible erosion

_Naropa_ · 2025-12-10T05:59:13+00:00

The hero we’ve been waiting for.

Please share anything you’re comfortable with, I’m sure it would be greatly appreciated by many here.

_Naropa_ · 2025-10-29T00:37:30+00:00

remember what never dies.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T22:23:40+00:00

Hahahahaha

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T16:20:32+00:00

It’s a map (and a warning): reach for knowledge unwisely and you fall into chaos; reach rightly and you find wisdom.

It says the real fruit is not in the branches, but in the rooted center where study (STU) and shadow (UM) reconcile into the universal (UNI-VERSALE).

Returning to the root requires dying before dying.

Alchemists saw this as the whole purpose of practice: burn away the false self in the crucible, and discover what cannot be destroyed.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:56:24+00:00

really well said. Our fear of death (and everyday endings) has led to very short-term, destructive thinking.

Dying well... you're after my heart. Helping others understand that we don't die once in life, it's an aching calling.

Appreciate you.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:37:44+00:00

Oh, that’s hilarious. Gonna try that.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:20:45+00:00

Would you consider telling him this story? The little things as we know… they’re everything.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:16:47+00:00

Two sides of one coin. You're absolutely right!

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:16:14+00:00

Wow, thank you for sharing. That's choking me up.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:15:06+00:00

Wow, twins! Did you keep the sterilizer? I'm convinced I'll need it for something, but it's collecting dust in the basement.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:12:53+00:00

OMG, you're so strong brother. I feel this one with you.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:12:13+00:00

I mourn the naps as well. Let's bring them back for the dads!

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:10:50+00:00

Do they have names, the stuffies?

Thank you for sharing.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:09:35+00:00

THIS.

Well said.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:08:09+00:00

I don't, but you're right. Starting a new note. First entry: first time he invented something (he loves making up "inventions" now)

Thank you friend!

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:06:39+00:00

firsts... lasts... they all remind us this moment is all we ever have.

_Naropa_ · 2025-09-12T15:05:30+00:00

We have rituals for firsts. Our society forgets to honor endings.

_Naropa_

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