https://therhetoricofmagic.com/alchemy/nigredo-the-black-phase-of-alchemy/
Your question touches two profound veins—the symbolic logic of alchemical transformation and Gilbert Simondon’s philosophy of individuation. Let’s begin by unfolding the traditional alchemical sequence, then explore what Nigredo or alchemy means for Simondon’s ontogenesis.
I. Nigredo – Albedo – Rubedo: The Three Phases of Alchemy
These are the three primary stages in classical alchemy, especially in its esoteric or spiritual-psychological interpretations, often taken up by Jungian and hermetic thinkers. Each phase represents a transformation in the soul, psyche, or material world:
1. Nigredo (Blackening)
- Meaning: Decomposition, death, disintegration.
- Symbol: Blackness, decay, chaos, Saturn, shadow.
- Psychological interpretation:
- Dark night of the soul.
- The ego confronts its limits; a collapse of previous identity or worldview.
- The dissolution of the false self to make way for transformation.
2. Albedo (Whitening)
- Meaning: Purification, clarification, rebirth.
- Symbol: Moonlight, silver, dew, the feminine.
- Psychological interpretation:
- After death (nigredo), cleansing begins.
- Emergence of a clearer consciousness, a kind of psychic baptism.
- Often linked to insight, forgiveness, and subtle integration.
3. Rubedo (Reddening)
- Meaning: Integration, embodiment, full illumination.
- Symbol: Blood, sun, gold, the philosopher’s stone.
- Psychological interpretation:
- The unified self is born, where spirit and matter, unconscious and conscious, are reconciled.
- Transformation becomes embodied in the world—not escape, but return with wisdom.
In Short:
|
Phase |
Symbolizes |
Psychological Meaning |
|
Nigredo |
Death, decay |
Ego dissolution; confrontation |
|
Albedo |
Light, purification |
Insight, renewal, subtle harmony |
|
Rubedo |
Gold, integration |
Embodiment, synthesis, transformation |
II. What Does Nigredo (or Alchemy) Mean for Gilbert Simondon?
Simondon doesn’t speak directly in alchemical terms, but his philosophy of individuation echoes alchemical logic in structure and spirit—especially nigredo as the metastable chaos from which new forms arise.
Let’s draw the parallels:
1. The Preindividual = Nigredo’s Material
- Simondon’s notion of the preindividual refers to a field of unresolved tensions, potentials, and non-equilibrium.
- Like the chaotic blackness of nigredo, the preindividual is not absence—it is a rich field of possible becomings.
- Transformation (individuation) begins not from clarity, but from this turbulent, charged ambiguity.
2. Transduction = Alchemical Process
- For Simondon, transformation occurs through transduction: a self-propagating structuring operation where a system reconfigures itself from within.
- This is reminiscent of alchemical operations, where matter self-purifies, not by imposition from outside, but by immanent process.
- Transduction is the philosopher’s fire—not destructive, but creative destabilization.
3. Individuation = Albedo → Rubedo
- The formation of the individual is like the passage from albedo to rubedo: from clarified emergence to embodied integration.
- Simondon always insists that individuation never fully completes—there is always a preindividual remainder, waiting for further resonance (i.e. the eternal echo of nigredo).
4. Alchemy as Proto-Technics and Proto-Epistemology
- In On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, Simondon sees alchemy as a proto-technical mode of knowing:
- Not just superstition, but a form of engagement with becoming and material transformation.
- Alchemists, in Simondon’s reading, understood that matter is not passive, but active, capable of transformation when placed in the right relational field.
- Thus, alchemy becomes for Simondon a bridge between technical individuation and psychic individuation.
III. In Summary:
|
Alchemy |
Simondonian Parallel |
|
Nigredo |
Preindividual chaos / metastable state |
|
Transmutation |
Transduction as structuring transformation |
|
Albedo/Rubedo |
Individuation and transindividual resonance |
|
Philosopher’s Stone |
Full actualization of becoming (never final) |
A Final Reflection:
In both alchemy and Simondon, the point is not perfection but process.
Nigredo is not a fall—it is the first necessity of becoming.
To dwell in nigredo—consciously, patiently—is to trust that from the dark unformed, a new form may arise, not imposed from above, but summoned from within.
Would you like to explore a comparative meditation between Jung’s alchemical psychology and Simondon’s individuation? Or perhaps a poetic rendering of nigredo as the starting point of van-life philosophy?
