Great Work Great Work The term Great Work (magnum opus) is a term used in Hermeticism and in certain occult traditions and religions such as Thelema. The Great Work signifies the spiritual path towards self-transcendence in its entirety. This is the process of bringing unconscious complexes into the conscious awareness, in order to integrate them back into oneself. Accomplishing the Great Work, symbolized as the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, represents the culmination of the spiritual path, the attainment of enlightenment, or the rescue of the human soul from the unconscious forces which bind it. Eliphas Levi (1810–1875), one of the first
Great Work Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN?This idea of an endless Great Work is also seen within classic alchemical perspectives. The idea of circumambulation, represented by the Ouroboros (a snake swallowing its own tail), suggests an endless cyclical process of first dissolving and then re-creating the personality, refining it each time. This idea is also seen in depth psychology as it is related to alchemy, where the Self continually, cyclically faces