Alchemy in “Nosferatu” (2024): Magnum Opus, Redemption and Integration

"I had nearly unlocked the final key of the Mysteriorum Libri Quinque. No... No matter. I miscalculated the stars. Hermes will not render my black sulfur gold this evening.”

“Mysteriorum Libri Quinque” is part of a collection of mystic writings by mathematician, hermetic philosopher and astronomer Dr. John Dee (16th century). An avid learner of the secrets of nature, he made no distinctions between mathematical research and the supernatural (which he considered mere tools to achieve a transcendent understanding of divine forms underlying the visible world, called “pure verities”). In 1580, he began experimenting with evocations to contact and communicate with angels, and Edward Kelly joined him in this project in 1582. They both documented every interaction they had with angels and wrote about their language, which they called “Enochian”. This collection of esoteric writings was only found, by accident, after John Dee's death.

Herbrandt Jamsthaler, "Viatorium Spagyricum", 1625

The world within the "complexio oppositorum", a creative em­brace of masculine and feminine natures, accompanied by their sym­bolic counterparts, the Sun and the Moon. A vision of Divinity associated with Hermetism, Rosicrucianism, and Alchemy. 

Alchemy, at its core and most literal definition, is the transmutation of base materials (lead, etc.) into noble ones (gold), and the pursuit of healing and immortality (“Philosopher's stone”). Hermetism is often called "Spiritual Alchemy", as occultists reinterpreted it as a spiritual quest of self-transtormation, purification and regeneration of the human soul. Hence physical death being seen as a gateway to another life, both allegorical or literal (rebirth, reincarnation). Carl Jung interpreted the alchemist's pursuit of the Philosopher's stone as a metaphor for the individuation process; inner wholeness, union with Self (for which "integration of shadow" is a key part).

Alchemical Ouroboros ("Codex Parisinus Graecus 2327", 1478) and Count Orlok’s sigil; a ouroboros it’s usually a serpent eating it’s own tail, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself (in Orlok’s case it’s a Dacian Draco, in reference to his origins). Symbol of Alchemy, represents the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth

"Hermes [Mercury] will not render my black sulfur gold this evening" will come full circle in Professor Von Franz's last interaction with Ellen, when he mentions "redemption": "I fear Nosferatu is impervious to any of our iron stakes. I'm convinced only you have the faculty to redeem us". In Alchemy, "redemption" is connected to the “Philosopher's Stone”, the “Stone of the Wise”', the “Magnum Opus” of transformation and enlightenment: "gold-making", Chrysopoeia, transmuting common metals into gold; which was what the Professor was attempting when the viewer is introduced to his character. 

"You are our salvation."

Yet, his astrological calculations were incorrect, and he's also missing the final key to unlock the process. He seemily gets it after reading what he calls the "Solomonari codex of secrets", more specifically the instructions to break the curse of Nosferatu: “and lo the maiden fair did offer up her love unto the beast and with him lay in close embrace until the first cock crow. Her willing sacrifice thus broke the curse and freed them from the plague of Nosferatu.”

“Putrefactio”; Johann Daniel Mylius, “Philosophia Reformata”, 1622

In Alchemy, the early procedures of the creation of the Philosopher's stone are characterized by the destruction of the prima materia (“prime matter”, the starting material required for the creation of the Philosopher's stone; the primitive formless base of all matter similar to chaos). The prima materia must be cooked, incinerated, dissolved until it reaches a uniform blackness (decomposition). This is the first stage of alchemical work, called “nigredo”. Only after reducing the prima materia to its primal state, can it be redeemed, transformed and elevated. In “shadow work” from Jungian psycology, this equals the shedding of the ego, and coming to terms with one's inner demons. 

Professor Von Franz tells Ellen only she can transmute black sulfur into gold, only she can redeem them all; herself (“Your diseased mind has brought all of this outrage”), the Professor (who’s seen as a charlatan and a fraud), Thomas (who's still "lost" in Nosferatu's "shadow") and Count Orlok himself (by breaking his curse and set his spirit free). All she needs to do in order to accomplish this is be faithful to her nature, her power, fully embrace herself (integrate her own shadow) by accepting Count Orlok’s covenant ("and shall you be one with me, ever-eternally").

Count Orlok has the alchemical symbol for blood on his personal sigil, and he, like his book counterpart Count Dracula, was also an alchemist in the late 16th century: "he was in life a most wonderful man. Soldier, statesman, and alchemist". And Professor Von Franz, after reading his codex of secrets (a Solomonar "book of wisdom" in Romanian folklore, also known as "The Stone of the Wise"), recognized him as such. Blood, in Alchemy, is not an ingredient; symbolic of the heart and belonging to the air element, it's connected to the "Rubedo" phase (or "Red phase"), the final phase of the “Magnum Opus”, when the Philosopher’s Stone is created, bestowing the cure to all diseases, long life and immortality.

"Redemption!"

The Stages of the “Magnum Opus”

The alchemical process of the “Magnum Opus” (“Great Work”) has four stages: nigredo (blackness); albedo (whiteness), citrinitas (yellowness) and rubedo (redness). The “citrinitas” phase is often merged with “rubedo” in Jungian Alchemy, but I’ll keep the four.

“Three phases of the magnum opus (nigredo, albedo and rubedo)”; Georges Aurach, “Pretiosissimum Donum Dei”, 1475

The “Great Work”, in alchemist and hermetic traditions is the process of transmutation of the prima materia into the Philosopher’s stone; the transformation of lead into gold. In Gnostic tradition, this was reinterpreted as a transformation of the soul, the mind, and of the alchemist, himself.

Nigredo (Black)

As mentioned above, the first stage of the “Magnum Opus” is the destruction of the prima materia. It represents death, decomposition and putrefaction. In Jungian psycology, it’s the dark night of the soul, the death before rebirth; confronting our shadow self (old and impure), acknowledging and understanding the repressed or ignored parts of the mind.

Considered the longest and most difficult part of the “Magnum Opus” process, in Jungian psycology it’s when we are forced to confront all that is dark within ourselves, to ultimately let go of everything that is false, inauthentic, and not aligned with the truth of who we are, and break free from all ideas of who we are supposed to be. And this is what Professor Von Franz tells Ellen, when he, finally, answers her question from when they first met (“Professor, my dreams grow darker. Does evil come from within us or beyond?”): “We must know evil to be able to destroy it, we must discover it within ourselves. And when we have, we must crucify the evil within us, or there is no salvation.”

For Ellen’s character, this stage begins with the “three nights” countdown Count Orlok gives her, which forces her to confront her own shadow and power (both personified by him). And will culminate with her decision to accept his covenant, and allow Nosferatu (the rotting corpse) to feed on her heart's blood until dawn.

"I will leave you three nights! Tonight, was the first. Tonight, you denied yourself and thereby you suffer me to vanish up the lives of those you love."

This phase is when Ellen comes to terms with her own nature (seeress) and darkness (power over death), and declares to Professor Von Franz “I need no salvation” because she believes she has done nothing wrong in her entire life but be true to herself, which caused her medicalization by Victorian society. 

And Ellen realizes her power (death) and sexuality (sex) won’t ever be accepted by the society she lives in; where she’ll always be seen as “mad”, “lunatic”, “hysteric” and “melancholic”, and where her ultimate fate would be institutionalization in an asylum (like Herr Knock); as her father threatened her with it when he found her masturbating ("At last, Papa found me laying... unclothed, I was... my body... my flesh... my.. Sin, sin, he said... He would have sent me to someplace... I shan’t go... I –"), and Friedrich Harding (the archetypical Father and Victorian patriarch) elaborated to the viewer: "Frau Hutter is mad and should have been locked up long ago".

Ellen willingly accepts Nosferatu (the rotting corpse) to feed on her heart's blood until dawn. In doing so, she becomes, at last, truly possessed by Nosferatu, as her and Orlok's souls merge together inside of the corpse, as their covenant decrees. Like in the alchemical process of the Magnum Opus, Ellen has to descend into a diseased and corruptive state (black sulfur; decomposition; Nosferatu) to be able to involve into a regenerative and perfect state (gold; spiritual awakening; spiritual world). 

Albedo (White)

After surrendering to the darkness of the Nigredo (“succumb to the darkness”), comes the purification, separation and conjuntion phase; where clarity and insight are earned by engaging with the anima/animus and exposing aspects that bring balance to the masculine/feminine energies. This phase represents the moon, shining in the darkness; balance after a breaking down into nothing.

"Albedo and Citrinitas meeting above the Nigredo": "HS.481" (German Alchemical Manuscript in Freiburg University Library), 1794

During the process of separation, the task of the alchemist is to determine which parts of the blackened prima materia are worth saving. It’s the phase to identify what’s useful and what’s not, and rebalancing the masculine/feminine pieces. In Jungian psycology, this is connected to “the gold in the shadow”; because not everything we meet in our own darkness is to be feared, and there are positive traits there that can help us becoming our authentic selves. Here, we must discern what parts of our shadow (our repressed and previously unacknowledged qualities) are to be saved, and what’s to be discarded.

After the separation, comes the conjunction; where the disparate elements (separated in the previous phase) are reunited, symbolic of copulation (sex). The result is the creation of “the lesser stone”, or “the Philosopher’s child”, by uniting Logos (reason) and Eros (passion/desire) to create something greater. This is what the Ancient Egyptians called the “Intelligence of the Heart”. In psycology, the conjunction requires one to become comfortable with the duality of our being, and join the forces of our soul and spirit.   

In this phase, Ellen is conjuncted with Nosferatu, as he feeds on her heart's blood, and has sex with her, at the same time. This "conjuction" is both physical (sex) and spiritual (soul), as he, as the early folk vampire, feeds on life force, souls, trapping them inside of the corpse (alongside his own). 

Aside from the strigoi folklore and other themes, there's alchemical significance to the heart: in Jungian Alchemy, the “heart” is a symbol of psychospiritual transformation, integration, and healing. The “Alchemical Heart” is a mediating center of psychic polarities, of what Carl Jung called the “union of opposites”. When these opposite forces (conflicting currents of consciousness and unconscious in a creative tension) are held in creative tension (instead of conflict), it gives birth to a new integrated attitude that includes and unites both matter and spirit, the “Philosopher' Stone”, symbol of a more integrated transpersonal reality (individuation; path of Self-becoming). 

The heart is seen as the central focus of the individuation process. The “heart” operates like an alchemical vessel that forges the link between the material and the spiritual, and incorporates body, mind and soul in the birth of a unified transpersonal awareness. For this “child”, the Philosopher's stone, the emergent “third”, to be born in the heart, it must be carefully worked over and undergo intense transformation within the heat of each tradition's somatic and spiritual disciplines. 

Mercurius (or Hermes) is the “dweller in the heart”; a messenger which participates in both light and dark worlds, as well, as the perfect mediating bridge between them. Mercurius is duplex in nature, light and dark, water and fire, matter and spirit, destructive and creative, masculine and feminine, and is the principle of individuation itself. The heart serves as a link between the human and the divine, in which the lower and material is transformed into the higher and spiritual, and vice versa. To know the heart is to be transformed by what one discovers in the heart. 

Hence why "love" is such a key element to the breaking of Nosferatu curse, and the "gold in the shadow" Ellen discovers is Count Orlok's soul (what's worth saving), since Nosferatu (the rotten corpse/vampire) is the shadow that will be shed come dawn.

Citrinitas (Yellow)

Considered a transition phase, between Albedo (purification, separation and conjuntion) and Rubedo (completion and perfection); when there’s a change of color and a quimical reaction happens. It represents awakening, enlightenment and knowledge. It’s the transmutation of silver into gold, or the “yellowing of the lunar consciousness”, symbolic of the dawn (solar light). While the previous stage symbolized the moon, this is symbolic of the sun. 

"More... more."

In this phase, the reflective moon is no longer needed. In Jungian psycology, it’s when spiritual awakening unites with psychological metamorphosis; when the ego and the unconscious integrate. The light of the sun transforms the shadow and fearful subconscious into valuable consciousness. The Shadow is integrated.

In “Nosferatu” (2024) it’s quite literally the sunrise, when Ellen is fully possessed by Nosferatu; her shadow integrated ("one with me"). 

Rubedo (Red)

From the dark night of Nigredo, to the pale moonlight of Albedo, the sun rises in Citrinitas and culminates in Rubedo, the final phase of the “Magnum Opus”. It’s when the Philosopher’s Stone is created, bestowing the cure to all diseases, long life and immortality. The Philosopher’s Stone is not a literal stone, but a concept; represents perfection, unification, regeneration and the cyclical nature of transformation. Symbolic with the Phoenix, the bird reborn from its ashes. It’s the chemical marriage of the moon and the sun.

Heinrich Nollius, "Rebis" ("Theoria Philosophiae Hermeticae"), 1617

"Rebis" is the divine hermaphrodite, a reconciliation of spirit and matter, of the sun (male) and the moon (female), both male and female within a single body. 

The Philosopher’s Stone symbolizes the union of opposites; sulfur and mercury, representing the redemption and transformation of base matter into spiritual gold. Rubedo symbolizes the physical realm; blood, birth, life force, fertility, the body, and the self. It’s the completion one attains before returning to the underworld to begin the cycle again. In Jungian psychology, it’s the “fully integrated psyche”, the physical integrated with the spiritual. It’s the achievement of wholeness.

This comes full circle with the prologue of “Nosferatu” (2024) and Count Orlok and Ellen’s covenant: “be one with me, ever-eternally”. The film starts with a music box melody, and ends with the same tune. An eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. The ouroboros on Count Orlok’s sigil, the return of the dead from Zalmoxis religion. 

From disease to healing, from masturbation to sex, from desire to love, from demonic to sacred, from death to rebirth, from mortality to eternity.

At the end, Professor Von Franz succeeds in calculating the stars and Hermes renders his black sulfur (Nosferatu) gold (sunlight; spiritual realm). At last, the Professor realizes what this "gold" is, the "true and indubitable treasure" he has been seeking. 

As Manly P. Hall wrote on "The Initiates of the Flame" (1922): "the Alchemist realizes that he himself is the Philosopher’s Stone, and that this stone is made diamond-like when the salt and the sulphur, or the spirit and the body, are united through mercury, the link of mind. Man is the incarnated principle of mind as the animal is of emotion. He stands with one foot on the heavens and the other on the earth. His higher being is lifted to the “celestial” spheres, but the lower man ties him to matter. Now the philosopher, building his sacred stone, is doing so by harmonizing his spirit and his body. The result is the Philosopher’s Stone. The hard knocks of life chip it away and facet it until it reflects lights from a million different angles." 

Anonymous, "Zoroaster Clavis Artis, MS. Verginelli-Rota", Vol. 3 (Biblioteca dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma), 1738