Conjunction is the fourth of the twelve stages of alchemy, part of the black stage (nigredo). It is the wedding of the work: the separated parts are joined again, pictured as the King and Queen, the Sun and the Moon. In spiritual alchemy it means joining your opposites, head and heart, the side you show and the side you hide.
What the alchemists did
Conjunction meant joining the separated and purified parts again into a new union. The alchemists drew it as a royal wedding of King and Queen, Sun and Moon, sulphur and mercury.
What it means in you
The alchemists pictured this stage as a wedding: the King and the Queen, the Sun and the Moon, joined into one. After sorting yourself out, you bring the parts back together, now chosen. Head and heart. Strength and softness. The side you show and the side you hide. Shadow work is not about getting rid of parts of you; it is about letting them work together.
Its engraving: Basil Valentine’s Sixth Key
Basil Valentine’s Sixth Key, from the Musaeum Hermeticum. Photograph: Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0; colours added.
Gate 4 carries the Sixth Key of Basil Valentine’s Twelve Keys, the key of the marriage. Opposites are joined, and everything depends on measure: too much seed and nothing ripens, too little and weeds take over.
In the old masters’ words
“Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon.” Hermes Trismegistus, The Emerald Tablet
“Our most precious stone is cast forth upon the dunghill.” Hermes Trismegistus, The Golden Tractate
A question to sit with
Which side of you do you show the world, and which do you hide?
When did you learn to hide it?
Who gets to see it?
What would change if it came out a little more?
From the app’s daily quiz
The alchemists pictured Conjunction as… A wedding. The King and the Queen, the Sun and the Moon, joined into one.
Carl Jung noticed that the traits we judge most harshly in others often… Live unseen in us. Shadow work is not about getting rid of parts of you. It is about letting them work together.
Basil Valentine said you can’t go wrong if you keep the heat… In the middle. Between too hot and too cold: the middle way.
In the old pictures, which two enemies end up embracing? The eagle and the lion. Once enemies, joined at last: the picture of being whole.
Everyone has a Sun side and a … side. Moon. Conjunction brings both sides of you back together, now chosen.
In Lead to Gold
In Lead to Gold, Conjunction is Gate 4 of the Great Work, in the Shadow work part of the path. Its seven days: Sun and Moon, Both need each other, Fire and water as friends, The rejected parts, The middle way, Meeting yourself, Whole. Each day has a short lesson, a guided exercise with the Glass, and a prompt to reflect on.
Last updated October 25, 2026.
Lead to Gold: Shadow Work, on Google Play
The alchemists’ Great Work, made into ten quiet minutes a day: twelve gates, a private journal, and a line of wisdom from the old masters. Free to download, for Android.
What is separation in alchemy?: Separation, stage 3 of the twelve stages of alchemy: keeping what is yours. What the alchemists did, and what it means for you.
What is putrefaction in alchemy?: Putrefaction, stage 5 of the twelve stages of alchemy: the dark before new life. What the alchemists did, and what it means for you.
What does Basil Valentine’s Sixth Key mean?: Basil Valentine’s Sixth Key (1599) explained: the wedding of the king and queen, why everything depends on just measure, and the full text in English.
What are the stages of alchemy?: The stages of alchemy: nigredo, albedo, citrinitas and rubedo, and the twelve operations from Calcination to Projection, each explained in plain words.
