Written by: Ajani Inez, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
What is rebirth? Rebirth is a potent and powerful healing process that we all will experience numerous times in different stages of our life. You may know it as the "dark night of the soul" or a "spiritual awakening."
All in all, it’s the process of purification where we are returned to our spiritual roots, essence, and identity.
This transformative experience can feel chaotic, confusing, and triggering as we are brought face-to-face with our current reality, old wounds, and parts of ourselves that no longer serve who we’re becoming and the life we are meant to lead.
Here we are given the intuitions and choices to facilitate the changes that will need to be made within our minds, bodies, spirit, and emotions.
Although each element of rebirth is unique to each individual, one aspect remains constant in each case, and that is the process of dissolving the ego into a more authentic, natural way of living.
When we are amid a rebirth, there are uncomfortable feelings, thoughts, and sensations within our body that stimulate the very essence of our being. This causes us to feel as if we are losing our sense of self, direction, and or purpose. It’s a helpless situation that can feel as if we are being punished by the universe.
But this is not the case...
This is meant to be a moment of faith and surrender.
A moment of observation.
A soul retrieval and a homecoming.
As uncomfortable as it may seem, the true mechanism of rebirth is that it evolves us from one chapter of our lives to the next. It allows us to heal old wounds while discovering and integrating newer aspects of ourselves. It gives us the opportunity to refine what we truly expect from ourselves and from life.
Understanding the cycle of rebirth.
Navigating these portals of transformation can be difficult without awareness. Understanding each phase of rebirth helps you to keep your eye on the bigger picture and not fight against changes that may feel unfamiliar, intense, or uncomfortable. This is radical acceptance. You understand that these situations show up in your life because they are needed to shift the state of your well-being. You allow the divine to take over instead of the ego. You allow love to take over and fill your heart instead of allowing the codependency of your comfortability to continue leading you down a path that no longer supports you.
I’m always entering new cycles of transformation and by now I understand how the cycle of rebirth works. However, my level of awareness hasn’t always been this way. I didn’t always understand why I would experience certain feelings, thoughts, and situations that would take me out of my elemental self.
At times, I’d become very erratic and suicidal. I didn’t recognize that during these transformative moments, I was looking back in the mirror at myself, wanting to kill off versions of me that I no longer associated with.
These experiences brought forth the realization that it was time to leave my comfort zone so that I could begin to walk on the path of my truest potential and highest purpose.
I had to shift my perspective to see that everything I've been experiencing was happening for me and not to me.
It took many cycles of confusion, heartbreak, anger, and disappointment to grasp what was truly happening.
What is alchemy?
I see the cycle of rebirth as an alchemical process in that it’s a seemingly magical and multidimensional process of transformation and creation.
Alchemy was an occult science that sought to transmute base metals, such as lead, into gold. Metaphorically speaking, the transmutation of lead into gold relates to the process of self-actualization and spiritual rebirth.
Seven distinct spiritual phases make up the alchemical process. Calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation, and coagulation.
Each phase is focused on spiritual development, gaining a higher state of awareness, integration, and harmony.
Calcination is the first phase of the alchemical process of rebirth. Think of this phase as a towering moment where everything in your world will seem to come crashing down. Things that were once tied to your identity-people, jobs, material items, habits, old narratives, limiting beliefs-are being stripped away because they no longer resonate with who you’re about to become. The more baggage that you carried with you up until this point will determine the intensity that you feel in this phase. This is a freedom tactic from the universe. Calcination is your wake-up call. Surrender with ease.
Next is dissolution. I like to think of this phase as a reflection period. We are brought to the depths of our subconscious where we face our thoughts, feelings, unconscious drives, and the systems we let define our perceptions of ourselves. Here, you will learn to accept the aspects of yourself that you may not like and get ready to let them go with love. This can sometimes manifest as depression as you grieve these aspects.
Separation is the third part of the process where we begin to filter through the aspects of our subconscious selves that we witnessed during the dissolution phase. It’s a conscious decision to release the parts of your identity and perspectives about the world that have been conditioned by your environments, friends, family, and social structures. We trade these parts of ourselves for more authentic and valuable aspects. This means embracing the parts of yourself that you may have been rejecting. You begin awakening to what is real within you, and you rediscover your true essence. You may initially feel that you are not worthy to embody such powerful aspects, but this is your truth. Take back your power and own it.
Conjunction is where you begin to reclaim the relinquished parts of yourself. You become whole and balance is restored within. You take the valuable aspects of yourself that remain after separation and combine these elements to form your authentic self. As you step into this genuine energy, conscious awareness is naturally instilled, setting boundaries becomes a healthy habit and detachment becomes a necessity. In this phase, you become aware of how important it is to focus on self-mastery so the higher aspects of yourself feel safe to express themselves in the world. Here you remember how powerful you are.
Fermentation is the fifth phase of spiritual alchemy where you experience the physical stage of rebirth. You are the phoenix rising from the ashes. Everything that you have been working through thus far will begin to actualize. In this stage, you experience your more refined self, while the last four phases involve working through your old personality. During the fermentation phase, as you rise from the ashes, you may feel a sense of lethargy or even depression as the old aspects of you are burning away for good. This too shall pass. Allow yourself to rest and regenerate. Fermentation is the perfect stage to learn how to cultivate peace and inner stillness.
Distillation gives us the time and space to integrate our newer selves and practices. To invite peace and harmony into our lives. Maybe you feel the need to adopt a daily yoga practice or maybe you feel called to eat healthier. The goal is to find ways to ingrain your new patterns, behaviors, and realizations into your life so that you don’t fall back into old beliefs, habits, and cycles from your pre-transformed self. In this phase, it’s important that you are patient with yourself being that you’re beginning a new life contrary to the old, and things may take some time to get used to.
Coagulation is the seventh and final phase of the spiritual alchemy process. Here we are solidified in mind, body, and spirit. Unified in the masculine and feminine energy. We feel more independent and complete. We feel more than ever that we are ready to go after our dreams and goals and obtain our desires. We feel powerful and stable. Intuitive and creative. You feel that you can take on anything that comes your way. I mean, once you reach this phase of the alchemical process, technically you did just take on everything the universe brought your way. Good for you!
The time spent in each phase—days, months, or years—will depend on your ability to surrender deeper into the process. Expect to be broken, rebuilt, tested, and tried over and over until you are reborn again. This is nothing your human spirit can’t handle. However, let it be known that you must work through each stage before moving onto the next.
Before writing this article…
I had a tarot therapy session with a client who was experiencing lower-than-normal energy and pains throughout her body that couldn’t be medically explained. After pulling some cards, I immediately realized that she was in the first phase of the alchemical process. Things that no longer served her were being stripped away so that she could begin to align herself with the magical outcomes she had been manifesting in her life.
When we are dealing with energetic transformation, I want you to note that unusual symptoms may occur for periods of time throughout each phase. These symptoms are undiagnosable and caused by the movement of energy that’s rearranging and opening pathways within your body.
I am not a medical professional so do not take this as medical advice. It's always a good idea to check in with your primary care provider if you are experiencing any pain or discomfort within your body.
I hope that this alchemical manual serves you well as you continue your journey in life. Remain compassionate with yourself.
Take care.
Ajani Inez, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ajani Inez is a multidisciplinary healer and guide teaching individuals how to heal from the lasting effects of trauma. During prominent years of healing from adverse primal wounding, she obtained tools, knowledge, and wisdom that have assisted her in moving past her difficult upbringing. She sees the critical value in sharing what she has learned and enjoys providing fact-based knowledge and intuitive wisdom on an array of multidimensional wellness aspects, encouraging individuals to recognize and or restore healthy physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual factors within themselves.
