The Stillness of Change
By Ani Khēmeia
Portfolio and Contact:
Ouroboros
If I remember
like roots that stretch beneath the now,
if I seek
the tickling-uncomfortable,
and if I take the time to sit
with the stillness of change:
maybe then –
I can walk
through heart’s back door,
I can know
as those did before,
I can finally meet
the dragon blowing fire in my life.
Sophia,
silly trickster,
Soul:
I long for the renewal
of a snake –
eating its own tail.
By: Ani Khēmeia
Ancestral Alchemy
The process of Alchemy is of such an ancient nature that it feels deserting to box its potential around one subject. Soul alchemy, sister alchemy, fire alchemy, healing alchemy, ancestral alchemy, even soul-creation alchemy… are we ever tired of the next marketing scheme? The next catchy headline? Here more than ever, can we realize together these are all the same goddamn things?
I guess I am just tired of all the glitter and glam that people put into the fundamentally magical aspects of life. I guess in other ways the lack of divine appreciation rings evident in the world today, but more so than ever do I feel it as I watch the further mass marketing + capitalist debauchery that’s happening within our spiritual practices lately. Holy shit the amount of tarot decks, crystals, beating around the goddamn bush we’re doing to connect with Source… are we forgetting that God is omnipresent?
Let me tell you – as I was reading into ancestral alchemy, the most interesting thing I found was a correlation between Kabbalists and Alchemists, and the subsequent likely-influence of ancient Jewish mystics on Renaissance-era Alchemy practices (that would later develop into the understandings I know and teach today).
But the ancestral interest there is not in the Alchemical process, it’s in the roots;
it’s in the Knowing
that we are all one own leaf,
hanging from the stems
of the Great tree.
And in these new ideas, and heavily influenced by the relationship I had just learned of – spirit sprung forth, to bring the poem above.
I’m not going to reiterate the life’s work I stumbled upon to make these realizations, but I strongly encourage you to watch the video linked below, which brought forth the ideas shared in this piece.
“And so it is,
that both the devil and angelic spirits
present us with objects of our desire
to awaken our power of choice.”
-Rumi
Collaborating photographer: Alex Colone
Click the images for more from the boy behind the lens.
*photography by Alex, editing by Ani*
Public Journal 004:
I took the fluff out of the piece due to how intensely I was moved when creating the beginning poem. In attempting to allow that to stand alone, I am not offering many insights or deeper understandings.
I’m flowing a lot lately which means river beds overflowing, but it also means refining my path and my purpose.
I’ve realized my ability to teach is more than a random skill, and that my confidence is not a coincidence.
And as I transition, as we transition (as I join the leadership team here), let’s get excited for all the new ideas rising from the smoke of the crucifix from before.
To anyone really pining for those deeper understandings, stay tuned, I have many new blog posts, lessons, and courses in store…
Until we meet again,
-Ani
ANI KHĒMEIA
Ani here, founder/ lead photographer for Alchemy of Hearts; Creative Director, Coordinator and Dark Moon editor for 13Moons Magazine. Through workshops, writings, photography, & more – I’m here to facilitate the raw and intense awakening associated with Alchemy.
Whether we meet traversing Mother Earth, virtually, or in Spirit – know I am here to be – rather than heal, guide, support. My foundations are rooted in the Truth that there is no one, dead or alive, who requires anything outside the Self to be utterly complete, healed, & worthy.
