Copyright Laura Bruno, 2007

Eating, Alchemy and Ascension

At The Spiritual Element, in Reno, I am known for (among other things) a deep and abiding delight in food. In particular, miso soup, artichoke hummus sandwiches and vegetarian sushi. People giggle at how animated I become while describing a new recipe or restaurant I’ve found. And they always marvel at how much I eat! They find it strange that such a small, fairy-like person truly loves the physicality of food. Maybe because I always have, it makes perfect sense to me.

I recently stumbled upon my college honors thesis, called “Milton’s Phoenix: Raphael, Poetry and Transmutation in Paradise Lost.” Milton gets a bad rap in high school English classes, and I remember rolling my own eyes when our teacher assigned a 10-Book poem about the Fall of Man. As if contemplating Sin weren’t already dull enough, now we needed to do it in verse? While visiting the University of North Carolina as a high school senior, though, something incredible happened. I audited a class taught by Professor Reid Barbour, a Milton scholar. Instead of the drudgery I expected, I heard students engage in passionate arguments about man’s relationship to God, the gifts and responsibility of free will, and the importance of trial in helping us evolve. I felt like a fern drinking in the sun. This old, blind 17^th century poet filled my mind with light and unfurled my heart.

Three years later, I began research for a thesis on angels in Paradise Lost. I learned that different angels have specialized skills and roles. Raphael, the Healer Guide, quickly became my favorite, as he visited Adam in the Garden. Milton enjoyed a special relationship with Raphael, as well—invoking this angelic messenger as muse to explain heavenly ideas in earthly terms. One way Milton and Raphael manage to do this is by revealing the links among eating, alchemy, and ascension.

Milton associates Raphael with Mercury, both the ancient god and the element that draws unlike substances into its own qualities. Mercury, or someone like Mercury, encourages movement through the celestial hierarchy. Silvery, fluid Mercury revels in change. Since Milton’s readers and Adam all know how to eat, digestion becomes a powerful metaphor in Raphael’s explanations of the cosmos. Just as we swallow something physical and transform it into energy, we can also consume ideas, extract nourishment, and thereby increase our spiritual vibration.

Alchemists call this process transmutation: turning baser metals into gold. Christians call it Transubstantiation, whereby the bread and wine of The Last Supper (the Eucharist) become the body and blood of Christ. Kaballah ponders the spiritual significance of photosynthesis (plants’ digestion), which creates both oxygen and food—the breath and bread of life. And Ayurveda calls our digestive fire “Agni,” after the immortal and eternally youthful messenger to and from the gods.

Since we eat two or more times a day, why aren’t we all enlightened? For an answer, we turn to alchemists, those mystical scientists who sought the elusive “philosopher’s stone.” Without it, nothing turned to gold. Without our own version of the philosopher’s stone, food is just—food. Yet if we view our relationship with food as a metaphor for our relationship with Spirit, then each meal becomes an opportunity for Communion. The word “Eucharist” is Greek for “thanksgiving.” Gratitude. When we bless our food, we open ourselves to Spirit. We invite Spirit to make its presence palpable in our mouths and in our hearts. Whenever we eat with gratitude, we embrace a sacred process. If we apply this appreciation to other areas of our lives, like work, sex and parenting, these transform as well. “You are what you eat” becomes more than a cliché. It becomes a promise.

I awoke this morning from a dream: I was trying to use a payphone, but I needed change. I said “thanks” and thirty-five cents appeared in my hand. Thousands of people suddenly surrounded the phone, pressing against me as I tried to call my “husband.” All that jostling knocked loose a white bakery bag I’d been carrying as a gift for him. The paper ripped apart to expose five mini loaves of fresh-baked bread, like Portuguese rolls. As I shifted the bag, I caught two Pepperidge Farm goldfish flying towards the payphone. These were a surprise, since I thought I had only asked for bread. I shared my food with the crowd and forgot about trying to make my phone call. Just then, the payphone rang. When I answered, I heard my “husband’s” voice. I had fallen asleep last night praying for support and courage to make a difficult financial decision today. I awoke this morning with a smile. Five loaves and two fish! Feeding the five thousand. My heart continues to rejoice.

In 2007, all my coaching clients want to experience greater abundance, and many would like to lose and keep off some excess weight this year. These sound like separate goals, but at heart, they are the same cry for nourishment and satiety. We all yearn to feel completely full of Life. To find that opening to abundant grace. Gratitude transmutes the ordinary into something sacred, but some people—both earthly and spiritual guides—can encourage this process to happen more quickly and more often. Take time to thank your guides and to receive thanks from those who consider you their guide. And let’s remember to savor this process of ascension. It is truly the Gift of Life. Bon Appetit!

Laura Bruno is a Life Coach, Medical Intuitive, and Reiki Master Teacher. You can reach her at 775-750-9140 or view her website: www.internationalrenaissancecoaching.com.