“Mortificatio is the operation that, as the name conveys, leads to the death of the material. It is therefore related to the processes that occur in putrefactio and calcinatio, and can be said to be the goal of these operations. In mortificatio, it is the force of the god of death, Thanatos, or Saturn, which acts directly on the material without any purification through the elements taking place. In alchemical images, one can see the grim reaper and Saturn watching over the alchemical hermaphrodite trapped in its hermetically sealed sarcophagus. The operation often involves the alchemist torturing the material or chopping its head off and then allowing it to die in a crossfire. Consequently, the passion drama of Christ leading up to the crucifixion is a metaphorical allegory for this operation. In herbal alchemy, the alchemist’s hard disintegration of the matter clearly demonstrates that the operation is both merciless and painful. Still, it opens up the material for necessary and inevitable processes in the opus. In a psychological sense, humans learn humility in the face of the unfathomable and must let go of the things and patterns that no longer benefit development. In the great work, one encounters the green lion devouring the Sun – which depicts that the refined creation must die and re-enter the well of the black Prima Mater, where only the singularity of the universe can exist. There, a death occurs by crucifixion as the soul dissolves in the divine primordial darkness.” - Alchemy – the divine work
