Whosoever would be a student of this sacred science [Alchemy]
must know the marks
whereby these three Principles [Sulphur, Mercury and Salt] are to be recognised
and also the process by which they are developed.
For as the three Principles are produced out of four,
so they, in their turn, must produce two, a male and a female;
and these two must produce an incorruptible one,
in which are exhibited with four [Elements]
in a highly purified and digested condition,
and with their mutual strife hush in unending peace and good will.
-Arthur E. Waite
The 'gold' you are after is the wealth
that is health of inner peace and richness -
the two are probably interconnected.
This is akin to the alchemist's quest to turn base metal into gold
which means going from the lower, animal or egotistical state
to a higher, spiritual or enlightened one.
Keep focused on your interior state
if you wish to know what it is that is in need of conversion from 'lead' to 'gold'.
In other words, if you overlook something base in yourself
you are never going to transform it...
Keep focused on the gold of love and generosity of spirit,
for this will will illumine and eventually convert the 'lead'.
-Lyn Birkbeck
