TRANSFORMATIONAL ALCHEMY
+ Friday Night Rhythms
THE RHYTHM
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS EACH WEEK?
THE GATHERING
Arrival. Music. Water or tea. Conversation. Settle in.
THE LABORATORY
Welcome. Weekly principle. Intention.
THE CONVERSATION
Education, dialogue and inquiry.
THE RESET
Hydration. Restroom. Reflection. Transition.
THE RHYTHM
Dance. Movement. Fitness. Music. Embodied practice. Creative making.
THE CIRCLE
Reflection. Connection. Accountability.
A Transformation Laboratory
Presented by Fertile Ground Incorporated
(FGI Members please email for Class Coupon Code for Free Admission)
Hosted at The Alchemist Den
Lead Facilitator: Jakuta --- The Alchemist
Guest educators, practitioners & movement facilitators throughout the series
Alchemy is the practice of transformation. Transformational Alchemy asks a different question: What happens when the material being transformed is your life?
The Transformational Alchemy Method
Every participant begins with what I would call their Prima Materia—the alchemical term for the raw or original material from which transformation begins.
The twelve weeks then move through six stages:
PHASE I — RECOGNIZE
Course 1 — THE LIFE I CAME HERE TO LIVE
The Prima Materia
This is considerably deeper than orientation.
The first Transformational Alchemy exercise is an honest inventory.
Participants examine five domains:
SELF | BODY | RELATIONSHIPS | RESOURCES | PURPOSE
The central questions become:
Who am I now?
Who did I learn I was supposed to be?
Where am I living by choice—and where am I living by conditioning?
What am I tolerating?
What have I outgrown?
What am I afraid to admit that I want?
What would constitute meaningful transformation twelve weeks from now?
The Laboratory
Each participant explores a personal Transformation Mapping of :
Present State → Desired State → Obstacle → Resource → First Action
PHASE II — RELEASE
Course 2 — MIND OVER MATTER
Mental Alchemy
Guest Educators: Mental Health Therapists
The psychological component should explore:
thought → belief → behavior → repetition → identity.
During this course we help participants distinguish among thoughts, feelings, facts, coping mechanisms and behavioral patterns.
Topics include internal narratives, anxiety/stress, self-esteem, emotional regulation, survival responses, shame, avoidance and when professional mental-health support is appropriate.
Transformational Question
Which thoughts are actually mine—and which ones were handed to me?
Laboratory
Participants identify:
Inherited beliefs.
Protective beliefs that have outlived their usefulness.
Self-defeating narratives. Replacement beliefs.
Behaviors that would make the replacement belief tangible.
PHASE II — RELEASE
Course 3 — PROTECTING OURS
Relational Alchemy
Guest Educator: Domestic Violence / Relationship Education
This conversation transcends a conventional DV conversation. The curriculum explores the spectrum:
Healthy → Unhealthy → Abusive
Toxic Masculinity→ Toxic Femininity → Reimagined Masculinity → Reimagined Femininity
and examines coercive control, financial abuse, emotional abuse, isolation, digital control, sexual coercion, manipulation and physical violence.
But then we introduce a larger concept:
Protection is not possession.
What does it mean to protect ourselves? To protect yourself? What does it mean to protect ours? What does community responsibility look like when we recognize harm? What is the difference between protection, control and domination? For men & trans-men in particular, this creates an extraordinarily rich conversation around masculinity:
Can strength exist without domination?
For women, another:
What changes when being chosen stops being more important than being safe, whole and self-possessed?
Different conversations.
Same laboratory.
PHASE III — RECLAIM
Course 4 — MY BODY BELONGS TO ME
Bodily Alchemy & Reproductive Justice
Body. Choice. Power.
Explore and converse with us and other reproductive-justice educators and framework that deliberately expands beyond pregnancy.
Participants examine bodily autonomy, consent, reproductive choice, healthcare navigation, medical bias, contraception, fertility, sexual wellness, parenting/not parenting and family formation.
For trans participants, reproductive healthcare should be discussed without assuming reproductive anatomy determines gender.
For women in the cohort—this framework can also accommodate perimenopause, menopause, changing bodies, sexual wellness, fertility transitions and medical self-advocacy.
Laboratory
Participants create and explore their own Body Bill of Rights completing statements such as:
I have the right to...
My body does not owe...
Healthcare providers working with me should...
I will advocate for myself by...
PHASE III — RECLAIM
Course 5 — WHAT IS ALCHEMY?
The Philosophy of Transformation
Woven through the fabric of our beliefs and conversations, we introduce alchemy as a diverse family of historical philosophical/proto-scientific traditions concerned with matter, transformation, refinement and—in some traditions—spiritual transformation. Transformational Alchemy is contemporary framework. We are borrowing the transformational metaphor—not claiming that historical alchemists practiced this curriculum.
What are your raw materials?
Knowledge.
Time.
Body.
Relationships.
Property.
Money.
Creativity.
Pain.
Experience.
Failure.
Access.
Community.
The work is transformation.
Laboratory:
The Personal Periodic Table
As participants, we inventory:
Assets | Experiences | Skills | Relationships | Knowledge | Opportunities | Constraints
Then select things we may have previously regarded as a liability and ask:
Can this be transformed into information, boundary, skill, wisdom, motivation or opportunity?
PHASE IV — REFINE
Course 6 — FEED THE TRANSFORMATION
Nutritional Alchemy
Food is part of self-governance
Topics:
macronutrients and micronutrients at an accessible level; protein; fiber; hydration; energy; whole foods; reading labels; meal preparation; grocery economics; cultural food traditions; eating for activity; and separating health from punishment.
Is healthy eating purely an individual choice?
No.
Access, transportation, price, neighborhood food environments, time, culture and availability affect food choices.
Laboratory
7 Day Nourishment Challenge
Participants construct realistic food challenge and strategies and we hold each other accountable.
PHASE IV — REFINE
Course 7 — MONEY IS A TOOL
Financial Alchemy I
Lead: The Alchemist + financial educators
We start somewhere unexpected:
Money is neither virtue nor character.
Then examine what participants learned about money from family, scarcity, culture, trauma, class and experience.
Move into practical mechanics:
income
expenses
cash flow
credit
debt
emergency reserves
banking
saving
investing fundamentals
risk.
Then distinguish:
Money → Asset → Equity → Wealth → Legacy
Laboratory: Monopoly + Follow the Dollar
Participants take $100 of hypothetical income and decide where every dollar goes.
Then:
What did your allocation reveal about your priorities?
PHASE IV — REFINE
Course 8 — MANIFESTATION REQUIRES MOVEMENT
Applied Alchemy
Lead: The Alchemist + faith leaders + motivational Speakers
VISION × BELIEF × KNOWLEDGE × ACTION × REPETITION = TRANSFORMATION
If Action = 0, the equation collapses.
Vision boards can have value.
Prayer can have value.
Ritual can have value.
Affirmation can have value.
But then:
Who did you call?
What did you apply for?
What did you save?
What did you learn?
What did you stop doing?
What did you build?
Laboratory: Manifestation & Accountability
Each participant takes one “manifestation” and converts it into:
Vision → 12-month outcome → 90-day target → 30-day milestone → next 7 days → action within 24 hours.
PHASE V — BUILD
Course 9 — OWN SOMETHING
Applied Alchemy
Lead: The Alchemist + funders/investors + invited professionals and guest speakers
What is the difference between access and ownership? This is NOT a first-time-homebuyer seminar. Let's talk education: homeownership
land
equity
business ownership
intellectual property
investments
beneficiaries
insurance
wills
estate planning
generational transfer.
And importantly:
Ownership isn't automatically wealth.
An asset that consumes more resources than it creates can behave very differently from a productive asset.
Laboratory: My First/Next Asset
participants identify an ownership targets and we create strategies and acquisition pathways.
PHASE V — BUILD
Course 10 — BUILD THE THING
Entrepreneurial Alchemy I
Lead: The Alchemist + invited professionals and guest speakers
Before anybody creates an LLC:
What are you actually building?
Idea ≠ business.
Talent ≠ business.
Logo ≠ business.
LLC ≠ business.
The class works through:
Problem → Person → Solution → Value → Revenue → Delivery
Participants learn customer discovery, market validation, pricing, cost, margin, capacity and the differences among business, nonprofit, hobby, project and side hustle.
Laboratory
The One-Page Enterprise Canvas.
By the end of 45 minutes participants should be capable of explaining:
I help ______ accomplish ______ by providing ______. They pay ______ because ______.
PHASE V — BUILD
Course 11 — MAKE IT LEGIT
Entrepreneurial Alchemy II
Lead: The Alchemist + invited professionals and guest speakers
Entity selection
LLCs
corporations
sole proprietorships
nonprofits
EIN
Georgia registration
licenses
banking
bookkeeping
contracts
insurance
tax considerations
business credit
compliance.
Legal/tax concepts are educational, and participants should consult appropriate licensed professionals regarding individual circumstances.
Laboratory
The Legitimacy Checklist
Each participant leaves knowing what their particular enterprise actually needs next—not merely with instructions to create an LLC.
PHASE VI — BECOME
Course 12 — TEN TOES DOWN
The Great Work - Alchemy II
Lead: The Alchemist + invited professionals and guest speakers
This is not graduation. It's integration. We bring back the sealed Week 1 Transformation Maps. Discuss the course and how to practically apply principles learned moving forward.
Participants reassess:
SELF | BODY | RELATIONSHIPS | RESOURCES | PURPOSE
Then compare:
Who entered this room when I first started? Who leaves it tonight? How has this programming impacted me? Have I been able to apply the things I have learned? What more work can be done? What more would I like to see from this series?
Participants also identify evidence rather than feelings:
What action did I take?
What boundary changed?
What did I learn?
What did I stop?
What did I begin?
What did I acquire?
What conversation did I finally have?
What am I still avoiding?
Laboratory
We develop a Continuation Plan:
Commitment to SELF
To BODY
To MONEY
To RELATIONSHIPS
To PURPOSE
To COMMUNITY
What will your strength be in service to?