It is now the last steps leading to the next book called “The Inner Fire: a coaching alchemy”. Since I last blogged about this, the book has gone through a rigorous process with some wonderful advanced readers who gave me a couple of hundred suggestions, which took a while to wade through and use to enhance the book. This process had such a positive effect on the final version of the book.
Within a couple of weeks I should have the final author copy of the book before it goes to print. This is that final step where I will see one last thing that I missed (there is always at least one little thing!)
What could the ancient concept and practices of Alchemy possibly have that would be useful for coaching?
In this book, Stuart Eglin brings 20 years of his own research in the field of analytical and archetypal psychology to create startlingly original approaches to coaching. Inside you will find the origins of the use of alchemy in personal transformation and a set of incredibly practical tools to work with this radical approach.
Whether you are a coach looking for techniques for your own practice or someone looking for ideas to self-coach, to do the work on yourself that will lead to the inner transformation that brings the authentic you to the surface, inside you will find all that you need to work with the techniques developed by Stuart.
If you are searching for an inspirational read, this is the book for you. Stuart brings himself as the Poet, the Master Coach and the Explorer of new ideas to the text so that the reader can experience the ideas within through multiple ideas, voices and creative techniques. This book will help you on the path to realising your true potential. Enjoy the journey.
Alchemy as a topic keeps appearing all around me – in a weird set of synchronicities. Of course, I began the process by seeing who had written about the role of inner alchemy in coaching.
Believe me, there is not much out there. The term ‘alchemy’ is used regularly, but not in the pure sense that I intend to use it.
The work on this begins with Carl Jung’s writings on the topic, spread across three volumes of his Collected Works. There are then also some really helpful commentaries on his work from Marie Louise Von Franz. Then, the studies I am pursuing take us right up to the last few decades, looking at the work of James Hillman and his colleagues working out of the Dallas Institute for Culture and Humanities. I’ve been fascinated by a set of volumes of “Conversing with James Hillman”, proceedings of an annual conference that each year responds to a different volume of James Hillman’s Uniform Edition. The volume on Hillman’s “Alchemical Psychology” is inspirational. It comprises a series of remarkable short pieces in response to the writings of Hillman. One of these was about astrology which set me thinking.
“Alchemy is inconceivable without the influence of her elder sister astrology.”
As I explored the fire of alchemy, and began to look into that element (one of four western elements, five Tibetan elements)
So, I thought I had better build a better understanding of astrology. I am only at the beginning of this exploration. It’s a key part for me already, of a broader understanding of Alchemical Psychology. This requires the learning of a whole new language, a new approach to meaning.
It has felt for a few years now that as I become more experienced as a coach, the process I undergo in a coaching session is much less logical and ordered – much more intuitive. The need to draw on different aspects of my own understanding of what is going on for the client, will, I am expecting, be given greater depth through the use of the alchemy lens. Without wanting to overstate things, I feel like I am on the brink of something really exciting.