why random alchemy?

ran·dom 

-adjective 

1.proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern: the random selection of numbers.

 al·che·my

–noun

1.a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.

2.any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.dictionary.com

While it's true I enjoy the idea of busy little wizards mixing magic in the Middle Ages (my imaginary wizards, for the record, are all female super-scientists gently breathing new life into the mysteries of the world they cradle in their hands), I stumbled across the idea of random alchemy during a brainstorming session with a good friend. We were trading texts about my need to write and document my thoughts as I complete a yoga teacher training. Metaphorically speaking, it's alchemy, I said, and poof! Random Alchemy was born (thanks, AN). It was only after researching chemical and philosophical alchemy that I realized how deeply the systems align with that of yoga: they are, after all, each a process of liberating spirit from matter, a search for an elixir of life, a process of transforming the common into the extraordinary.


As for the random, well, let's just say I rather liked the inherent paradox.

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