Examples Of Mortification

Putrefactio and mortificatio usually refer to two different aspects of the same stage in the alchemical process and are both connected to death. They are not considered an alchemical process but are the inevitable result of various operations on substances which are deemed necessary for transformation to occur. Mortificatio is represented as a form of torture or mutilation, as in the Passion of Christ and the death and mutilation of Osiris and is a feeling we all have experienced more than once in our lives.

Decapitation, another form of separation, is also a mortificatio that indicates that the ego must be separated from the archetypal psyche in order to transcend. We must separate the ego from the collective unconscious, from the energies that initially gave it form, and learn to discriminate within non-duality, without projecting or choosing one side over another. Edward F. Edinger describes mortificatio of the king or sun at the archetypal level as “the death and transformation of a collective dominant or ruling principle.” Here is where we must slay our dragons and look for what can redeem us. The image of God, soul, self needs to be connected back to the ego consciousness before we can reach any wholeness.

The loss of psychic energy, the complete deflation of the ego and the departure of the soul from the body can all be associated with putrefactio and mortificatio.  Taking, for example, the Waite Smith deck we could have a spread in which the Four of Swords or the Five of Cups could well signal a stage of putrefactio or mortificatio.  Sometimes we need to be still, to rest from strife; or just allow grieving to cleanse our psyche, to help us move on with our lives.

The last two examples are from the Vision Quest Tarot.  Endurance could well be a form of mortificatio, just like Torment.