From an alchemical perspective, the Passage into Midlife, psychospiritually starting in the mid/late-30s, corresponds to the third stage of the Opus, the citrinitas or yellowing. At the Midlife Threshold, we are presented with an invitation, a Soul summons, into a truer, deeper, bolder existence that calls for a process of profound inner excavation, reclamation and reorientation, within and without.

Each stage in Alchemy includes a series of processes through which the material (the psyche) undergoes its progressive transformation toward the elusive end-goal of psychic Gold. When we imagine Midlife through the lens of Alchemy, and its sister-art, Astrology, the specific processes of the yellowing stage offer us a fascinating, detailed map for the terrain;

a symbolic yet embodied way to more consciously embark on the metamorphic journey of Midlife.

In Part I of the Midlife Initiation Series, we focused on weaving a new mythology, an ancient-modern framework for the Midlife Journey, as well as on initiating the identity-shedding process that forms the first step on the Path.

In Part II, the Midlife Opus, we will spiral deeper into the heart of the initiation:

you will be guided to meet the essential images, practices, archetypal guides, elements and ‘tasks’ of the yellowing, as they specifically apply to stepping into the second half of life,

and experientially work with them; put the theory into practice using your astrological natal chart as anchor and container.