Alchemy and Organic Chemistry

            It is known that there are five essential elements required for life, organic chemistry, and to form DNA: Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus (H,C,N,O,P). These five elements are essential to the construction of the double helix DNA molecule. There is a strong correlation to Alchemy among this simple organic chemistry though. This concept was originally proposed by Hippocrates in ancient Greece as the theory of four bodily humors affecting personality (melancholic, sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic) but I thought I would break it down with a little more detail.

            We have mapped out many elements across the periodic table and we understand most of their properties very thoroughly. We do not know WHY the elements have their specific properties though. It has always been a mystery of chemistry. I want to propose an interesting spiritual observation about five of these elements, and perhaps why they are so important to our biochemistry. This is all just theory and I could actually have some of these elements mixed up, but I’m convinced in some order or another they represent the five elements of all creation.

            The five main organic elements are actually direct correlates of the five elements. Carbon is earth, hydrogen is air, oxygen is water, nitrogen is fire, and phosphorus is ether.

Carbon is easiest to see as earth. Carbon is what most of the planet is made of. It is the foundation of all life. In actuality, the carbon atom itself is really black. This shows the density of carbon and that the color black is just the beginning of the movement of consciousness. This seems to link with the denseness and solidity of the first charka, the root.

            Hydrogen can then be seen as air. Hydrogen is a seemingly simple and free element. It needs only two electrons to be stable. Hydrogen pairs and breaks away like the coming and going of wind. It is the least dense of the elements, and it is actually white or colorless in appearance.

            The hydrogen and carbon pairs combine to make Hydrocarbons, a large area of our organic chemistry. This is the battle of earth and air; yin and yang elements interacting as opposites which complete each other.

            Oxygen is representative of water. We are made of over 60% oxygen atoms by mass (because of all the water in our bodies. H20 = 16 out of 18 g/mol oxygen.) Oxygen is a fuel to the body and to the emotions. It’s light blue color also seems representative of its water nature.

            Nitrogen is the fire element. Most explosives are actually made with nitrogen. Nitrogen has a role with the solar plexus charka and its mental function because nitrogen is very important to the making of amino acids and proteins. These are the mental constructions on the cellular level of how the body will build itself.

            Nitrogen and oxygen interact a lot as well. There are many different oxides of nitrogen. They too, are engaged in a battle of bonding and breaking. Oxides of nitrogen are frequently used as explosives. The rapidly escaping oxygen molecules usually cause explosive reactions. This is the yin and yang of water and fire interacting. The water element is the storage of energy while the fire is the catalyst of burning off the stored energy. Just like nitrogen holding oxygen in place until it is agitated to set itself ablaze as the rapidly escaping oxygen is burned off.

Phosphorous now is left, and it serves an interesting purpose. All of the above molecules are also needed for the DNA molecule but phosphorous is equally important too. Phosphorous actually holds the DNA molecule together as it composes the strands which hold the base pairs. In addition to holding DNA molecule together, 80% of the body’s phosphorous is found in the bones to help hold bone structure together atomically. One of the signature traits of the element ether (not to be confused with the compound ether), is to hold the other elements together while also keeping them apart at the same time. If ether didn’t exist, everything would be stuck together, or everything would fly apart. Some other hints about phosphorous representing the element of ether is its conductivity and it’s gentle, pure, white luminescence. It also burns at an extremely high temperature of 5000 degrees, much like the element of plasma. This seems to reflect the 5^th chakra Visshuda in Sanskrit and how it translates to “perfectly pure”, and also how the element of plasma/lightning is associated with it.

So what does this all mean? The five elements are the primordial source of creation everywhere in the universe. You are made in the image of the cosmos. Also, the balance of these five elements in your body may also affect your entire energy flow. Your entire personality could be based off the amounts of these elements in your body. All matter is vibration, and vibration creates frequencies of consciousness.

On that note, why are the five elements so important? It is because they exist everywhere in the entire visible universe. Millions of planets out there all have solid rock, atmospheres, water, and fire. They may not have the same balance of the elements as here on Earth, but the mental archetype of earth, water, fire, wind, and space (ether) are known to all souls that have ever lived anywhere in space and time. They are a part of the collective universal unconscious. Because of this, they carry a dull energy of consciousness. It isn’t self-aware consciousness like us, or animalistic consciousness. It is an existential consciousness because those archetypes help build life, and are thus exposed to the consciousness they created through the long process of evolution. There is a vibration of “is-ness” with the elements because are all vibrating in unison across everywhere in the cosmos. They are the elements that make the body of the universe. Do you see the fractal image of creation?