J Daniel Gunther

Spiritual experiences continue to fascinate and excite humanity, regardless of how modern we become, or to what cultural traditions we belong. In this book, J. Daniel Gunther beautifully records a genuine experience of spiritual transformation, written in the timeless language of archetypal symbols. Numinous visions are drawn with artistic skill, and inner wisdom is recorded in an epistolary style - thus, text and image combine in such a way that the reader can glean some impression of what is otherwise an incommunicable spiritual experience. After devoting many years to the study of ancient texts and alchemical imagery, Gunther produces an opus that is as fascinating to the scholar as it is inspiring to the seeker. An insightful afterword by Steven J. King offers readers the history behind Opus Alchymicum, and the role it played in Gunther's life. Now in an updated third edition, the reader is aided by new translations and commentary that make the text blossom.

This book's primary focus is an understanding of the change to the formulas of Initiation brought about by the advent of the New Aeon--the Aeon of the Child--in 1904. It draws deeply from Jungian psychology, world mythology and religion, the teachings of Aleister Crowley, and the doctrines of the Mystery traditions. It explains how the revelations unique to this stage of human evolution impact the work of the individual aspirant. Much of what is written here is revealed for the first time, with every attempt to do so in clear and precise language.