The Alchemy of Winemaking

Wine is a gift of the gods.

According to Euripides, Dionysus gave “the simple gift of wine, the gladness of the grape” to “rich and poor” alike . It is sacred in Judaic rituals; it leads to an ecstasy that is exclusive to the experience of Allah; and it is the blood of Christ. Alchemists associated wine with aqua permanens, and the grapes were considered to be the raw matter of the Stone. But why has wine gained such a central significance across religions and alchemy?

To answer this question, we will approach the steps of winemaking as if they were images from an alchemical textbook. As Paracelsus wrote, “An alchemist is the baker when he bakes bread, the viniculturist when he makes wine.” Through this lens, winemaking becomes a striking metaphor and guide to the coniunctio.

We will look at how the grapevine must be treated in the vineyard, so that it can concentrate the uniqueness of the terroir into the grape; how the grapes have to be crushed to obtain their essence; and how the winemaker has to safeguard the fermentation and aging processes, so this essence can gain a lasting, transcendental form. We will explore these steps through various myths and religious motifs, and also by considering the everyday details of making wine and their psychological interpretation.

Vitis [grapevine] was the name given to the philosophical tree
in late antiquity, and the opus was called the 'vintage' (vindemia) . . .
'Man’s blood and the red juice of the grape is our fire.'  

- C.G. Jung,

CW 13 Alchemical Studies, par 359

The Alchemy of Winemaking

with Jungian analyst Gábor Majdán

SATURDAY
May 10

10am-12pm Pacific / 1-3pm Eastern
/ 7-9pm Zurich
+ Video recording will be available

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Gábor Majdán

Gábor Majdán, M.Sc., IAAP is a Jungian analyst working in private practice in Zürich. I am a graduate and member of ISAPZURICH. 

I was born and raised in one of Hungary’s wine regions, where my family have had a small vineyard for more than 250 years. While I took part in the harvests as a child, I live now in Zürich, Switzerland, and cannot personally look after the vineyard. I nevertheless make my own country wines in my home.

However, I had not connected to this vital part of my ancestry, until dreams brought wine and winemaking prominently to my attention. This lecture is the fruit of my engagement with the psychological symbolism behind winemaking, and it is part of my thesis that I wrote on this topic.

More about me at gabormajdan.com