Alchemy is called the Royal Art (Ars Regia). Of this there are three basic types. These are Artisinal Alchemy - the Outward Work; Mystical Alchemy - the Inward Work; and Sexual Alchemy, which, after a certain manner, partakes of both these methods of attainment.
Artisinal Alchemy is dedicated to producing the "external gold" of material splendour, whereas Mystical Alchemy is dedicated to producing the "internal gold" of spiritual splendour. In either case, the actual object of the Great Work is one: to manufacture the Stone of the Philosophers. It is with this stone that the Alchemist performs his transmutations, whether such be spiritual or material in kind.
In a nutshell, Artisinal Alchemy is the art of transmuting base metals into gold. To attain success with this material form of Alchemy, when combined with the mystical aspect, is said to be an outward sign of the accomplishment of the inward work of Spiritual Transformation; this is, in fact, its only justification in the world of Magick.
For gold is a material symbol of a spiritual reality, typified by the Sun of Light. Gold is the perfect metal of all metals, the most exalted form of the mineral kingdom. It is, in fact, the alpha and omega of the mineral kingdom. In the Philosophy of Alchemy it is asserted that all base metals are imperfections of gold, and that all metals are ordained by Nature to become the Perfect Gold of the Sun. The base metals are but accidental phenomena due to an unfavorable environment in Nature. The Alchemist seeks to remove from all base metals their disorderly imperfections or base characteristics to bring them to their true state of natural order and to transmute them into the Living Gold of Sol.
Now with regard to Mystical Alchemy, its formula and operation is spiritual and psychological in kind. The famous Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung and the well-known Golden Dawn Magician Francis Israel Regardie were both inclined to interpret the operations of Alchemy from a purely psychological point of view. Jung wrote a well known book called "Psychology and Alchemy" (1953) and Regardie wrote an illuminating book called "The Philosopher's Stone" (1938). Both of these authors make it an evident fact in these books that they envisage Alchemy to be nothing more than a psychological operation dedicated to a mystical end. Jung was completely fascinated by Alchemy, and he invested an immense amount of his time investigating the symbols and principles of this Art. Regardie himself was an Adept of Alchemy, and though he envisaged Alchemy to be a psycho-mystical process of initiation, he nevertheless did expound the sexual secrets of Alchemy in his magick book "The Tree of Life" (1932), yet with the essential, magical point of view that this physical aspect of Alchemy is also dedicated to a spiritual cause.
From the point of view of Mystical Alchemy, the Philosopher's Stone is not a powder or any sort of material object, but rather is it a spiritual object, being a symbol of the True Self. The Mystical Alchemist, also called the Alchemystic Philosopher, does not seek to manufacture the Philosopher's Stone to produce the material gold of Nature, but rather to produce the Divine Gold of the Spirit. To attain the Philosopher's Stone is, in this particular case, the attainment of enlightenment, which is the illumination of the aura or Soul of Nature with the Divine Light of Sol, and with this comes the power to illumine the world which is the Divine Gold of the Spirit.
The Eastern System of Kundalini Yoga affords us a basic clue into the interior operations of Mystical Alchemy. Kundalini Yoga aims at the awakening of various centers of psychic force in the Ethereal Body. These are called Chakras or Cakkrams. Although there is literally a Chakkra for every nerve in the body, there are seven in particular which are of vital importance in the Science of Kundalini Yoga. These Chakkras are symbolised by seven Wheels ascending the spinal column which the Yogi endeavours to initiate into whirling motion, to awaken their subtle energies and vitalise his consciousness with their occult currents of power. This is accomplished by way of awakening the Primary Nerve Current known as the Kundalini or Serpent Power. The Serpent (Kundalini) is a phallic symbol, representing the creative force of reproduction or Sexual Energy. The Kundalini is Sexual Energy -- the Libido -- also called Shakti (Power) in the Sanskrit tongue. It is by this Sexual Power that the Chakkras are literally transformed into veritable centers of cosmic radiation, illuminating the soul, mind and body of the Yogi with the Celestial Light of the Sun.
In the Science of Alchemy, the seven Chakras are linked with the seven Planetary Metals; Sushumna, Ida and Pingala are linked with the three alchemical Principles called Mercury, Sulphur and Salt; and Kundalini is linked with AZOTH, the SECRET FIRE of Alchemy which is the Prime Agent of the Caloric Operation of the Sun. This SECRET FIRE, or the AZOTH of the Sages, is the Serpent Power which transmutes the base metals into the Perfect Gold of the Sun. AZOTH is also a name for the Stone of the Wise, and this gives us a clue into the nature of the SECRET FIRE itself. It is written in the Sixth Key of Exodus: "Our Stone is an Astral Fire which sympathizes with the Natural Fire, and which, as a true Salamander receives its nativity, is nourished and grows in the Elementary Fire, which is geometrically proportioned to it."
AZOTH was the name of the Grand Secret postulated by Eliphas Levi, which he also called the Great Magical Agent, concerning which he wrote: "This Agent, disguised by the ancient philosophers under the name of the First Matter, determines the forms of modifiable substance, and we can really arrive by means of it at metallic transmutation and the Universal Medicine. This is not a hypothesis; it is a scientific fact already established and rigorously demonstrable."
Basil Valentine, a fifteenth century German monk of the Order of Saint Benedict, employed the word AZOTH for the SECRET FIRE, which is not the common fire of Nature, but the Inner Fire of Spirit which cannot be seen with the eyes. In paradoxical language, it is a Watery Fire or a Fiery Water. It is the Universal Sperm of Creation, the Semen of Shiva, the Seed in the Metals, the Prime Agent (Primus Agens), also called Virgin's Milk and the Water of the Wise. It is the Alkahest of Paracelsus who was the famous German Swiss-born Alchemist, Rosicrucian and Physician of the 16th century. It is the Fire Water, Hell Water, of Johann Baptista van Helmont, which purifies and dissolves the metals, and which he described as a salt. Eliphas Levi defined it as the Fluidic and Living Gold of Alchemy. Such is also called Philosophical Mercury, concerning which Roger Bacon, a famous Alchemist of the 13th century, said: "I could transmute the seas, were there enough Mercury."
This SECRET FIRE is both male and female, solar and lunar, fiery and watery in nature. Ergo, it is also called the SECRET WATER and is symbolized by the Great Sea. It has been said: "Chemists use fire for burning; we use water." This Secret Element has a double nature; it is a dry heat combined with a warm moisture. The first real task of the Alchemist is to discover this Fire-Water Element. Thus it is called the First Matter of our work. However, it is not only the First, but also the Last Matter of our work. Thus did Eliphas Levi call it "the efficient and final principle of the Great Work." Note, in this connection, that the word AZOTH is composed of the first and final letters of the Qabalistic Alphabet, that is, Aleph and Tav. For it represents the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End of Our Royal Art. (Meta-Religion.com)
Poetry, like alchemy, is largely ignored, and is effectively marginalized from mainstream culture. Most people couldn't care less about either artform, and yet both house so much of value to humanity. 
