The thought of alchemy is an interesting. Can you imagine the possibilities if we were able to change lead into gold or make ourselves immortal? We all know that alchemy doesn't exist....or does it? One of the formal definitions of alchemy is "any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value." Doesn't every single person who writes a paper, essay, novel, or any form of writing change things of little value, words, into things of great value, ideas? Leading me to believe that every person is an alchemist. They transform things into valuables and make themselves immortal. Shakespeare addressed this very idea in many of his sonnets. He was determined to make himself immortal through his work and guess what. He Succeed...BIG TIME. There is no other individual author who could be considered as great of an alchemist as Shakespeare. He not only made himself immortal and changed things of little value but he also managed to invent many different words/ideas.
Another aspect of alchemy that relates it to writing is that it is supposed to purify the soul. For me writing does this as well. By allowing oneself to write, one is purifying their soul and allowing others to see it. I am not exactly how this works with alchemy but I do remember Professor Sexson mentioning this in class and it really sticking in my mind.
This connection between alchemy and writing just cements, at least in my mind, how mythology is present in my life. I do not go a single day without reading something so thus I do not go a single day without having mythology influence me. This doesn't even count the content of what I am reading and the mythological stories and ideas that influenced that portion of what I am reading.
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