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Alchemy of Psychology, The
James Hillman was a past master of alchemical psychology. This field uses metaphors derived from ancient alchemy to elucidate deep structures in the creative imagination. Creative processes are not random. By studying alchemical psychology we come to understand ourselves and other humans in surprising ways that frequently diverge sharply from the habitual understandings we have unconsciously absorbed from the cultures in which we were raised. These new awarenesses can engender unexpected new vitality and wonder.
Running time: 12 hours, 15 minutes, 39 seconds.
Running time: 12 hours, 15 minutes, 39 seconds.
MP3 CD
First published January 1, 2015
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223 people want to read
About the author
James Hillman
175 books573 followersJames Hillman (1926-2011) was an American psychologist. He served in the US Navy Hospital Corps from 1944 to 1946, after which he attended the Sorbonne in Paris, studying English Literature, and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with a degree in mental and moral science in 1950.
In 1959, he received his PhD from the University of Zurich, as well as his analyst's diploma from the C.G. Jung Institute and founded a movement toward archetypal psychology, was then appointed as Director of Studies at the institute, a position he held until 1969.
In 1970, Hillman became editor of Spring Publications, a publishing company devoted to advancing Archetypal Psychology as well as publishing books on mythology, philosophy and art. His magnum opus, Re-visioning Psychology, was written in 1975 and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Hillman then helped co-found the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture in 1978.
Retired into private practice, writing and traveling to lecture, until his death at his home in Connecticut on October 27, 2011 from bone cancer.
In 1959, he received his PhD from the University of Zurich, as well as his analyst's diploma from the C.G. Jung Institute and founded a movement toward archetypal psychology, was then appointed as Director of Studies at the institute, a position he held until 1969.
In 1970, Hillman became editor of Spring Publications, a publishing company devoted to advancing Archetypal Psychology as well as publishing books on mythology, philosophy and art. His magnum opus, Re-visioning Psychology, was written in 1975 and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Hillman then helped co-found the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture in 1978.
Retired into private practice, writing and traveling to lecture, until his death at his home in Connecticut on October 27, 2011 from bone cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 28, 2018
The lectures are really interesting, even if a bit chaotic. Hillman was not only talented psychologist, but a charming and charismatic speaker, it seems.
But the sound quality is absolutely awful. It's impossible to hear the questions from audience and consequentially the answers become incomprehensible. Anyway, better something than nothing, I guess.
But the sound quality is absolutely awful. It's impossible to hear the questions from audience and consequentially the answers become incomprehensible. Anyway, better something than nothing, I guess.
March 13, 2024
Mercury Poisons Certainty!
I’m stumbling through an encounter with alchemy lately.
I’m utterly baffled/fascinated by it.
I’m having a BLAST with it.
It’s driving me absolutely MAD.
I’m going with it.
It’s REALLY fucking FUN.
And I’m resisting the urge to even try to understand it.
The following are some of my (completely baffled and probably inaccurate) reflections on this audio program.
The Alchemy of Psychology is an audio recording of legendary Jungian psychoanalyst James Hillman running a training on alchemy and psychotherapy for a group of other Jungian psychoanalysts.
It is WAY too rich to distill in this short form.
But in essence.
According to my limited understanding.
Hillman is positing Alchemy as an alternate (or coextensive) system for conducting and understanding psychotherapy, in addition to (or instead of) psychology.
Hillman is not alone in this assertion.
Freudian theory has the pretense of science.
But it is as rooted in the humanities as anything.
And of course traditional Jungian analysis is founded on religion, myth, archetype and alchemy.
And humanistic and existential psychotherapy were based more on philosophy than psychology.
But all of these examples have some type of fundamental commitment to “healing” and “progress” and a transactional/hierarchical difference between “patient” and “doctor” or “analysand” and “analyst” where in the state and development of the clinician is presumed to be advanced and expert in some way or on some level, and the patient/analysand is considered the subject (or rather object) of “treatment”.
Hillman calls all of that into question.
Hillman posits that alchemy is a process that affects everyone (analysand and analyst alike).
And rather than one heroic expert assistant the heroic aspirant on their linear hero’s journey.
The alchemist/analyst and analysand are both in the fire. Cooking and burning and becoming.
Hillman asserts that psychological psychotherapy has become denatured by the agenda of certainty.
Hillman posits that, in the very same religions can breed brittle/brutal anti spiritual fundamentalism out of a need for structure, hierarchy and certainty. The analogous agenda of nomothetic psychology has strangled the life/mystery/struggle out of psychotherapy.
Hillman does not insist that we need a psychology free psychotherapy.
But rather invites us to rediscover a psychotherapy that is inclusive of other ways of knowing.
Other systems of meaning.
And (perhaps most pertinent) other, more creative and alive ways of being that do not necessitate knowing.
Hillman posits that unlike psychology and religion.
Alchemy Resists Literalization!
As such Hillman struggles to communicate the vitality of uncertainty within alchemy. As an alternate system for psychotherapy. That can liberate psychotherapy from the iron grip of psychology, and the lifeless agenda of diagnosis, treatment, and “progress” toward normal functioning.
Hillman posits that alchemy intimates a way of being and becoming that does not necessitate knowing or striving or attaining. Or that prizes serenity/equanimity over tumult/unrest, or even sanity over madness.
Alchemy views all of it as valuable.
Lead obfuscates.
Fire cooks, blackens and burns.
Water moistens.
Salt preserves.
Mercury poisons certainty and elicits madness.
All of it is part of the natural process of being.
And alchemy (if anything) can haven’t that process. But without any preferred end state. And only a rerun to the beginning for another go round.
One of the most worthwhile things in this program is Hillman emphasis on the necessity of the therapist/analyst to be a part of process.
And that the state growth/dissolution/transformation of the therapist is as absolutely important to the work as the state to the client/analysand.
For all you Hillmanite/Jungians out there.
Please don’t hate me for COMPLETELY fucking all of this up.
I’m learning as I go here.
If nothing else.
I can at least share my TOTAL joy and enthusiasm for this stuff.
There is a lot to love about this thing.
But chiefly.
I loved spending the time with Hillman.
He’s a joy.
It is ASTOUNDING how RIDICULOUSLY ERUDITE he is.
He quotes Shakespeare, the Bible, Jung, Freud, philosophy, poetry, literature, myth, completely off the cuff.
It’s ASTONISHING.
He’s the ERUDITE HERMETIC HERMAPHRODITE.
GREAT PROGRAM.
5/5 STARS ⭐️
I’m stumbling through an encounter with alchemy lately.
I’m utterly baffled/fascinated by it.
I’m having a BLAST with it.
It’s driving me absolutely MAD.
I’m going with it.
It’s REALLY fucking FUN.
And I’m resisting the urge to even try to understand it.
The following are some of my (completely baffled and probably inaccurate) reflections on this audio program.
The Alchemy of Psychology is an audio recording of legendary Jungian psychoanalyst James Hillman running a training on alchemy and psychotherapy for a group of other Jungian psychoanalysts.
It is WAY too rich to distill in this short form.
But in essence.
According to my limited understanding.
Hillman is positing Alchemy as an alternate (or coextensive) system for conducting and understanding psychotherapy, in addition to (or instead of) psychology.
Hillman is not alone in this assertion.
Freudian theory has the pretense of science.
But it is as rooted in the humanities as anything.
And of course traditional Jungian analysis is founded on religion, myth, archetype and alchemy.
And humanistic and existential psychotherapy were based more on philosophy than psychology.
But all of these examples have some type of fundamental commitment to “healing” and “progress” and a transactional/hierarchical difference between “patient” and “doctor” or “analysand” and “analyst” where in the state and development of the clinician is presumed to be advanced and expert in some way or on some level, and the patient/analysand is considered the subject (or rather object) of “treatment”.
Hillman calls all of that into question.
Hillman posits that alchemy is a process that affects everyone (analysand and analyst alike).
And rather than one heroic expert assistant the heroic aspirant on their linear hero’s journey.
The alchemist/analyst and analysand are both in the fire. Cooking and burning and becoming.
Hillman asserts that psychological psychotherapy has become denatured by the agenda of certainty.
Hillman posits that, in the very same religions can breed brittle/brutal anti spiritual fundamentalism out of a need for structure, hierarchy and certainty. The analogous agenda of nomothetic psychology has strangled the life/mystery/struggle out of psychotherapy.
Hillman does not insist that we need a psychology free psychotherapy.
But rather invites us to rediscover a psychotherapy that is inclusive of other ways of knowing.
Other systems of meaning.
And (perhaps most pertinent) other, more creative and alive ways of being that do not necessitate knowing.
Hillman posits that unlike psychology and religion.
Alchemy Resists Literalization!
As such Hillman struggles to communicate the vitality of uncertainty within alchemy. As an alternate system for psychotherapy. That can liberate psychotherapy from the iron grip of psychology, and the lifeless agenda of diagnosis, treatment, and “progress” toward normal functioning.
Hillman posits that alchemy intimates a way of being and becoming that does not necessitate knowing or striving or attaining. Or that prizes serenity/equanimity over tumult/unrest, or even sanity over madness.
Alchemy views all of it as valuable.
Lead obfuscates.
Fire cooks, blackens and burns.
Water moistens.
Salt preserves.
Mercury poisons certainty and elicits madness.
All of it is part of the natural process of being.
And alchemy (if anything) can haven’t that process. But without any preferred end state. And only a rerun to the beginning for another go round.
One of the most worthwhile things in this program is Hillman emphasis on the necessity of the therapist/analyst to be a part of process.
And that the state growth/dissolution/transformation of the therapist is as absolutely important to the work as the state to the client/analysand.
For all you Hillmanite/Jungians out there.
Please don’t hate me for COMPLETELY fucking all of this up.
I’m learning as I go here.
If nothing else.
I can at least share my TOTAL joy and enthusiasm for this stuff.
There is a lot to love about this thing.
But chiefly.
I loved spending the time with Hillman.
He’s a joy.
It is ASTOUNDING how RIDICULOUSLY ERUDITE he is.
He quotes Shakespeare, the Bible, Jung, Freud, philosophy, poetry, literature, myth, completely off the cuff.
It’s ASTONISHING.
He’s the ERUDITE HERMETIC HERMAPHRODITE.
GREAT PROGRAM.
5/5 STARS ⭐️
September 5, 2025
One of the best intros to alchemy I’ve read. Super comprehensible for a modern audience, which is really hard considering the source material. James Hillman is the best
June 4, 2019
I'm a huge fan of James Hillman. He touches on the beauty of alchemical symbolism for understanding inner psychology. Anyone who can remember their own vivid dreams knows that the true language of the mind is a rich imagery that is often confusing and unintellible to the conscious rational mind. Hillman advocates that this language is learnable and that alchemy has the vocabulary. In this lecture series he addresses how the language of alchemy is concerned with the science of inner transformation and growth.
December 1, 2024
I’m always a little bummed when I realize the “audiobook” I ordered is actually a taped lecture. And this is another topic that I think would be much more engaging if it wasn’t a completely new subject for me (interestingly, he talked about the planetary archetypes that I just read about in Cosmos and Psyche). I appreciated it as an introduction to alchemy as a system to work with symbolically, though a lot of it was over my head because they weren’t familiar concepts for me (yet!)
Read
December 9, 2017Audio of a conference based on the book. Hillman is very engaging with his audience. If your a fan of the book, this will provide even more insight into the depths of an alchemical way to understand the correlations between inner and outer worlds and provide the metaphorical tools to help make sense of it.
October 28, 2025
This is my first exposure to alchemy. I have listened to this exactly once. Here is what I remember in topic order:
Alchemy - Buncha medieval hermits going nuts in their cook houses, mixing together or incinerating anything they can get their pasty little hands on.
Alchemy of Psychology - If you died from inhaling the fumes, it was because of your bad attitude.
White - Didn’t exist before black. White thinks it’s better than black. (Yikes)
Black - Only existed after white (Double yikes). A real downer, but you can’t get rid of it so you have to be friends.
Red - There are only three colours. Black, white and red. Red is good unless it is bad.
Charcoal - Black, but apparently better because it is more useful.
Fire - You must heat up all things, or otherwise set them on fire.
Water - Water is moist. It is difficult to get anything done when you are moist.
Sand - Sand is dry. Dry is better than moist.
Mercury - Party time. May turn you into a rabid sex fiend.
Vessels - You can put things in vessels. If you have a vessel, you are not a caveman.
Lead - Can and will kill you. Even less useful than black.
Yellowing of white - Now there are four colours. Yellow is bad unless it is good.
Sulphur - Comes from eggs, which are white and yellow. Sulphur is bad and good, but at the same time.
Postmodernism - Alchemists clearly (clearly!) had no problems with this one.
Gold - The best of the best. But secretly, the hermits weren’t really trying to make gold. They liked rocks better.
Stone - Trusty ol’ rock. Alchemists give 5/5 thumbs up. Bonus points if it is oily and floats. Jesus floats on water too, so Jesus is an oily rock.
Blue - Now there are five colours, but blue is not really a colour. If you talk about blue, you are not really talking about blue.
Then the 10-hour lecture ends. Everybody applauds, gets up, and goes home. Allegedly to their families.
Missing a star because I couldn’t hear the audience question excerpts.
Alchemy - Buncha medieval hermits going nuts in their cook houses, mixing together or incinerating anything they can get their pasty little hands on.
Alchemy of Psychology - If you died from inhaling the fumes, it was because of your bad attitude.
White - Didn’t exist before black. White thinks it’s better than black. (Yikes)
Black - Only existed after white (Double yikes). A real downer, but you can’t get rid of it so you have to be friends.
Red - There are only three colours. Black, white and red. Red is good unless it is bad.
Charcoal - Black, but apparently better because it is more useful.
Fire - You must heat up all things, or otherwise set them on fire.
Water - Water is moist. It is difficult to get anything done when you are moist.
Sand - Sand is dry. Dry is better than moist.
Mercury - Party time. May turn you into a rabid sex fiend.
Vessels - You can put things in vessels. If you have a vessel, you are not a caveman.
Lead - Can and will kill you. Even less useful than black.
Yellowing of white - Now there are four colours. Yellow is bad unless it is good.
Sulphur - Comes from eggs, which are white and yellow. Sulphur is bad and good, but at the same time.
Postmodernism - Alchemists clearly (clearly!) had no problems with this one.
Gold - The best of the best. But secretly, the hermits weren’t really trying to make gold. They liked rocks better.
Stone - Trusty ol’ rock. Alchemists give 5/5 thumbs up. Bonus points if it is oily and floats. Jesus floats on water too, so Jesus is an oily rock.
Blue - Now there are five colours, but blue is not really a colour. If you talk about blue, you are not really talking about blue.
Then the 10-hour lecture ends. Everybody applauds, gets up, and goes home. Allegedly to their families.
Missing a star because I couldn’t hear the audience question excerpts.
November 21, 2019
Great content, but calling it a "book" (yes, even an audio"book") is a STRETCH. It's a tape recorded lecture and you must endure quiet, hard-to-hear audience participation throughout. Mostly this is not a burden, and enhances the experience, but many times it IS an annoyance. 5 star content with 3 star presentation.
March 18, 2022
This audiobook is a recording of material Hillman
presented before some kind of weekend
workshop, apparently. If you're looking for the
kind of focus found in his books, look
elsewhere. It's a bit rambling at times.
presented before some kind of weekend
workshop, apparently. If you're looking for the
kind of focus found in his books, look
elsewhere. It's a bit rambling at times.
March 21, 2023
This was fun
May 6, 2024
For me, alchemy is psychological metaphors for the processes, states and images of the soul… the sensuous fantastic… the fantasy of the senses… a non-personalized psychology (Jung), less subjective, sentimental and personalistic.
Many alchemical terms are used in psychology—especially Freudian language.
YOU CAN’T TAKE ALCHEMY LITERALLY.
Many alchemical terms are used in psychology—especially Freudian language.
YOU CAN’T TAKE ALCHEMY LITERALLY.
September 18, 2024
Incredibly useful, if you allow it to be.
Irrespective of its epistemic substance, Hillman’s goal is to ‘free the mind from literalism and train it to speak in metaphor.’ The mythos we live in is metaphor cloaked under the guise of rationality - it’s an invaluable skill to realize the underlying form (or prima materia) of this system.
Irrespective of its epistemic substance, Hillman’s goal is to ‘free the mind from literalism and train it to speak in metaphor.’ The mythos we live in is metaphor cloaked under the guise of rationality - it’s an invaluable skill to realize the underlying form (or prima materia) of this system.
Read
August 4, 2021Really good. Makes me wanna think more often alchemically.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews