Magical Musings on Annihilation Part I: Alchemy and Transformation
Warning: This post contains spoilers for the movie Annihilation, directed by Alex Garland and starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac.
I saw Annihilation yesterday. I usually go see any film with Natalie Portman in it shortly after it comes out, but since my life has been so hectic lately, it was a while before I finally got around to watching this one.
If you've watched it, you're probably curious about how I interpreted the ending. I'll make another post later this week about what I think happened at the end, but that's not what I want to talk about in this post. In this post, I just want to note some of the things running through my mind as I reflect back on the movie as a whole. I do think there are many magical themes throughout this book. One of them is transformation.
I wrote a book about self-transformation. As you can guess, self-transformation, and the transformation of people in general, is a subject that interest me. Throughout the movie, the main characters undergo some very intense transformations.
The esoteric tradition of alchemy is one that deals heavily in transformation. One of the greatest figurative (and in some cases literal) accomplishments of the alchemists is the transformation of lead into gold. There are references to alchemy scattered throughout the movie. The first one that most people noticed is the Ouroboros tattoo that several of the characters have, which is a symbol of regeneration. Of course, all of the main characters become regenerated into something new the same way lead becomes regenerated into gold.
When lead is transformed into gold, its essential nature changes. The essential nature of lead is found in its atomic structure, so this is what changes when an atom of lead becomes an atom of gold. For humans, our essential nature on the physical level is found in our DNA. This is what the Shimmer changes in order to transform humans into plants, alligators into alligator-shark hybrids, etc.
As a Bardonist, I can't help but think of the fact that conscious eating and conscious breathing, when practiced over a long period of time, can change one's DNA. The Shimmer changes peoples' DNA, and these changes produce amazing results. However, some of these amazing results are amazing in a bad way. For example, that one guy's intestines become snake-like creatures and writhe around inside him. Through conscious eating and conscious breathing, we also change our DNA, but these changes are made in a controlled and conscious way - not in a random and chaotic way like with the Shimmer. Therefore, when we produce amazing results by changing our DNA, we can ensure those results are amazing in a good way.
As one final note, shortly before Dr. Ventress is consumed by the alien creature, she speaks to Lena. When she speaks, she is, to a certain extent, speaking with the voice of the creature, after all, the creature is within her. She explains that the creature will tear everyone apart to the smallest bits and pieces and reassemble them to create something new. Isn't that literally just the alchemical principle of "Solve et Coagula"?
So, in summary, the Shimmer is a transforming force that is similar to the transforming force that the alchemists wished to develop, but the alien creature behind the shimmer is not an alchemist because the alchemists used the transforming force to change things better, but the alien creature used the transforming force of the shimmer to change things in random and chaotic ways. However, the Shimmer does do a good job of illustrating just how powerful the transforming force can be, and this is something we should keep in mind when we practice conscious eating and conscious breathing.
I saw Annihilation yesterday. I usually go see any film with Natalie Portman in it shortly after it comes out, but since my life has been so hectic lately, it was a while before I finally got around to watching this one.
If you've watched it, you're probably curious about how I interpreted the ending. I'll make another post later this week about what I think happened at the end, but that's not what I want to talk about in this post. In this post, I just want to note some of the things running through my mind as I reflect back on the movie as a whole. I do think there are many magical themes throughout this book. One of them is transformation.
I wrote a book about self-transformation. As you can guess, self-transformation, and the transformation of people in general, is a subject that interest me. Throughout the movie, the main characters undergo some very intense transformations.
The esoteric tradition of alchemy is one that deals heavily in transformation. One of the greatest figurative (and in some cases literal) accomplishments of the alchemists is the transformation of lead into gold. There are references to alchemy scattered throughout the movie. The first one that most people noticed is the Ouroboros tattoo that several of the characters have, which is a symbol of regeneration. Of course, all of the main characters become regenerated into something new the same way lead becomes regenerated into gold.
When lead is transformed into gold, its essential nature changes. The essential nature of lead is found in its atomic structure, so this is what changes when an atom of lead becomes an atom of gold. For humans, our essential nature on the physical level is found in our DNA. This is what the Shimmer changes in order to transform humans into plants, alligators into alligator-shark hybrids, etc.
As a Bardonist, I can't help but think of the fact that conscious eating and conscious breathing, when practiced over a long period of time, can change one's DNA. The Shimmer changes peoples' DNA, and these changes produce amazing results. However, some of these amazing results are amazing in a bad way. For example, that one guy's intestines become snake-like creatures and writhe around inside him. Through conscious eating and conscious breathing, we also change our DNA, but these changes are made in a controlled and conscious way - not in a random and chaotic way like with the Shimmer. Therefore, when we produce amazing results by changing our DNA, we can ensure those results are amazing in a good way.
As one final note, shortly before Dr. Ventress is consumed by the alien creature, she speaks to Lena. When she speaks, she is, to a certain extent, speaking with the voice of the creature, after all, the creature is within her. She explains that the creature will tear everyone apart to the smallest bits and pieces and reassemble them to create something new. Isn't that literally just the alchemical principle of "Solve et Coagula"?
So, in summary, the Shimmer is a transforming force that is similar to the transforming force that the alchemists wished to develop, but the alien creature behind the shimmer is not an alchemist because the alchemists used the transforming force to change things better, but the alien creature used the transforming force of the shimmer to change things in random and chaotic ways. However, the Shimmer does do a good job of illustrating just how powerful the transforming force can be, and this is something we should keep in mind when we practice conscious eating and conscious breathing.
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