- Rubedo
:"This is about the alchemical stage; for the fictional character see
Gaignun Kukai, Jr. ."Rubedo is a Latin word meaning "redness" that was adopted by 15th and 16th century alchemists to define the fourth major stage in the "alchemical opus" in achieving enlightened consciousness and the total fusion of spirit and matter. The three alchemical stages preceding rubedo werenigredo (blackness) which represented putrefication and spiritual death, albedo (whiteness) which represented purification, and thirdlycitrinitas (yellowness); the solar dawn or awakening.In the framework of psychological development (especially followers of
Jungian psychology ) these four alchemical steps are be taken as analogous to the process of attainingindividuation : In an archetypal schema, rubedo would represent the Selfarchetype , and would be the culmination of the four stages. The Self manifests itself in "wholeness", a point in which a person discovers his or her true nature.References:
* [http://www.meta-religion.com/Psychiatry/Analytical_psychology/jung_quaternity.htm Jung’s Quarternity, Mandalas, the Philosopher's Stone and the Self]* Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy 2nd. ed. (Transl. by R. F. C. Hull)
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