Phase Two: Dissolution

Sacred Fires of Alchemy – 

Phase Two: Dissolution

Element: Water
Chakra: Sacral

Alchemical Stage:  Nigredo — The Blackening

Theme: Surrender, Emotional release, Melting of Structure, The Dark Night

The Waters That Undress Us: Sacred Surrender

     "You do not have to know the way.   You only have to let the current carry you."

Still Within the Nigredo: The Descent Deepens

Though the flames of Calcination have passed, we remain in Nigredo — the blackening, the sacred undoing. Dissolution is not a beginning. It is a descent — deeper, softer, wetter.
From fire to water.
From ego to essence.
From form to formlessness.

If Calcination shattered the shell — the ego, the mask, the persona — then Dissolution is the melting of what lay beneath.  Here, we are softened. Washed. Unmade.  Ashes stir the emotional waters. Buried memories surface. Grief unspoken begins to rise. The known dissolves. Solid ground turns to sea. And in this watery realm, we are invited to feel, not fix... to drift, not define.

This is still the death.  Still the unraveling.  Still the sacred surrender of selfhood.

The Element of Water: Sacred Waters of the Psyche

Water is the element of the unconscious — of emotion, intuition, and the unseen. It draws forth what we've buried:  Pain we've bypassed.  Stories we've silenced.  Feelings we’ve frozen.

They emerge not as narratives, but as tears, dreams, numbness, or ache.  

This is not regression.  It is revelation.

This is not madness.  It is medicine.

Here, we begin to trust the currents — even the terrifying ones — because they are carrying us home.

This Stage Is Not a Mistake

To feel lost is not to be failing.  To not know who you are is part of the path.  You are dissolving what no longer holds truth.  You are not meant to grasp — but to float.  Not meant to strive — but to surrender.  Not meant to rush — but to rest.

There is no clarity yet.  And that is sacred.

What We Experience in Dissolution

• Loss of identification with the false self

• Memories, emotions, and inner tensions that were suppressed begin surfacing

• Feeling raw, unmoored, and tender

• The soul beginning to whisper through the wreckage

• The question “Who am I?” echoing in the bones

This is the Dark Night of the Soul — not punishment, but purification.  Not an end — but a sacred threshold.

A Glimpse from My Journey

For me, Dissolution arrived as:

• The collapse of identity: no longer wife, designer, rescuer, mother, business owner, householder

• Illness, exhaustion, betrayal — a full-system breakdown

• Emotional waves I could not analyze away

• Nights on the floor, grief as my only companion

• The years of uncried tears began to rise — grief I didn’t even know I was carrying

• Anger surfaced — at those who harmed me, ignored me, or expected me to disappear

• I felt the breath I had held for decades — the breath I silenced to stay safe, small, acceptable

• 50 years of unexpressed emotion — shame, sorrow, rage, fear — all came flooding through

• What I once buried to survive… demanded to be felt so I could finally live

Often, this phase is sparked by crisis — illness, loss, betrayal — or the quiet moment when we are simply too tired to pretend anymore.

Ritual: Water Surrender Bath

Draw a warm bath. Add sea salt, dried herbs such as lavender, rose, or mugwort, and light a candle nearby. This is your sacred container.  As you prepare the water, bring your presence inward. Gently step in. Let your body feel held.  Speak aloud:   

   “I release my resistance. I surrender to the truth of who I am.”

Close your eyes. Let yourself soften. Let yourself feel. If tears come, let them fall. If stillness comes, let it stay.  Imagine the water absorbing what you’re ready to release — sorrow, confusion, anger, numbness, resentment, bitternness, uncertainty. Let it hold you. You don’t need to fix anything. Only witness.  When you feel a soft yes in your body, rise slowly. Move with reverence.  As you move the body, imagine all that you allowed to be felt be released in the movement of the body.    Wrap yourself in warmth. Journal if you feel called — not to make sense, but to honor what moved through. Let presence be enough.

Reflection Prompts

• What is rising in me that I’ve been avoiding?

• Where am I being invited to soften?

• What emotions have I long suppressed?

• Where am I still trying to hold control?

• What part of me is dying — and what part is being born?

• If I stop running, what truth do I hear?

• Can I allow myself to be here without needing clarity?

Alchemical Wisdom

“Once we have broken down, we are left with the process of dissolution —
the beginning of feeling less identified with our false self.”

This is where the Soul begins to speak.
Not in answers — but in presence.

Let the waters soften you.
Let the surrender baptize you.  Still Within the Nigredo: The Descent Deepens