Alchemy Calendar 2026

The Great Work aligned to the seasons. Planetary metal operations, conjunctions as chemical weddings, and the annual cycle of transformation.

⚗ The Four Stages & Seasons

🖤 Nigredo
The Blackening
Winter · Dec 21 – Mar 19
Dissolution, putrefaction, death of the old form. Saturn rules. Lead operations. The prima materia breaks down. Dark moon and Saturn hours are strongest. Work with: black substances, graveyard earth, calcination.
🤍 Albedo
The Whitening
Spring · Mar 20 – Jun 20
Purification, washing, the emergence of the white stone. Moon and Mercury rule. Silver and quicksilver operations. Full moon is peak. Work with: distillation, sublimation, lunar herbs, white substances.
💛 Citrinitas
The Yellowing
Summer · Jun 21 – Sep 21
The dawning of the solar consciousness. Sun and Jupiter rule. Gold and tin operations. The bridge between silver and gold. Work with: solar hours, midsummer herbs, fermentation, conjunction of opposites.
❤ Rubedo
The Reddening
Autumn · Sep 22 – Dec 20
The final stage. Integration, the Philosopher's Stone, the Red King and White Queen united. Mars and Sun rule. Work with: coagulation, multiplication, projection. The harvest of the Great Work.

⚙ Planetary Metals

♄
Lead — Saturn
Saturday · Saturn hours
Calcination, reduction, patience. Nigredo operations. Black phase work.
♃
Tin — Jupiter
Thursday · Jupiter hours
Expansion, enrichment, multiplication. Blue/purple phase.
♂
Iron — Mars
Tuesday · Mars hours
Calcination by fire, separation, purification through force.
☉
Gold — Sun
Sunday · Sun hours
The goal. Rubedo culmination. Philosopher's Stone. Projection.
♀
Copper — Venus
Friday · Venus hours
The Green Lion. Venus vitriol. Conjunction, love of opposites.
☿
Mercury — Mercury
Wednesday · Mercury hours
Quicksilver. The universal solvent. Dissolution, volatilization.
☽
Silver — Moon
Monday · Moon hours
The White Queen. Albedo operations. Lunar tincture. Reflection.

📅 Key Dates — 2026

Jan
3
⚗ Full Moon in Cancer
Lunar
First full moon of the year. Silver operations. Lunar tinctures at peak potency. Albedo work.
Passed
Feb
17
⚗ Annular Solar Eclipse
Eclipse — Gold
Solar eclipse = Gold operation pause. Do not begin solar work. Observe the Nigredo within the sun itself.
Passed
Mar
3
⚗ Total Lunar Eclipse
Eclipse — Silver
Lunar eclipse = Silver transformation. The White Queen enters the shadow. Powerful for dissolution operations.
Passed
Mar
20
⚗ Spring Equinox — Nigredo → Albedo
Phase Transition
The Great Work turns from black to white. Begin purification operations. Distillation and sublimation favored. The Albedo phase opens.
Passed
May
24
⚗ Jupiter enters Cancer (Exalted)
Major Transit
Jupiter exalted — tin operations amplified. Expansion, multiplication, the philosopher's mercy. Strongest Jupiter year in a decade.
Passed
Jun
21
⚗ Summer Solstice — Albedo → Citrinitas
Phase Transition
White to yellow. The solar consciousness dawns. Begin gold-adjacent operations. Fermentation. The sun at its zenith mirrors the inner gold.
Passed
Aug
12
⚗ Total Solar Eclipse in Leo
Eclipse — Gold
Solar eclipse in the Sun's own sign. Extraordinary alchemical event. The gold is eclipsed, destroyed, and reborn. Major Rubedo symbolism.
17days — next
Sep
22
⚗ Autumn Equinox — Citrinitas → Rubedo
Phase Transition
Yellow to red. The final stage opens. Coagulation, multiplication, projection. The Red King emerges. Harvest the year's work.
58days
Dec
21
⚗ Winter Solstice — Rubedo → Nigredo
Phase Transition
The cycle completes and restarts. The Stone is achieved or the work begins again. Longest night = deepest Nigredo. Meditate on the prima materia.
148days

About This Calendar

Alchemy is both a physical practice (laboratory alchemy — spagyrics, plant alchemy, metalwork) and a spiritual discipline (inner alchemy — the transformation of the self). Both use the same timing system rooted in planetary hours, lunar phases, and seasonal cycles.

The four stages of the Great Work (Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, Rubedo) map to the four seasons through the solstices and equinoxes. Each stage has its own planetary rulers, operations, and optimal timing windows. Conjunctions between planets have special significance as "chemical weddings" — the union of opposing principles.

Historical sources: Jabir ibn Hayyan, Paracelsus, the Rosarium Philosophorum, the Mutus Liber, and the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. For real-time planetary hours, use our calculator.

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