Alchemy, in regard to the heart, is the ability to take anything—grief, doubt, challenge—and transmute it through love, intuition, and truth into something of greater value, meaning, and beauty.

In ancient folklore, one of the most powerful symbols of this idea is the Green Lion devouring the Sun. At first glance, it appears wild, even destructive—but it’s actually a symbol of inner transformation. The lion represents our untamed heart. When it is willing to take in the light—to feel, to love, to intuit—it transforms itself. That is the alchemy of the heart. We don’t avoid the fire—we walk through it, and we come out golden.

As I grew into adulthood, I was often labeled “too emotional” or “too heart-centered.” Along with those labels came the judgment that I was unrealistic or dreamy. Can you relate?

As my life unfolded, I began to realize that while heart-centered living is powerful, my untamed heart had sometimes led me astray. I see now—through the lens of the Green Lion—that my heart was wild and unhealed. It led me on passionate but sometimes chaotic journeys. It wasn’t until I devoured the light of spiritual teaching that my life truly began to transform.

Let me clarify what I mean by an “untamed heart.” I followed impulses without any inner compass. What I mistook as heart-led decisions were often just the cries of a wounded heart seeking external validation.

When I came to the teachings of Science of Mind, I learned that truly following the heart means aligning with love, compassion, and self-worth. It meant healing my wounds and reclaiming my identity as Divine. I had swallowed the light of truth—and began to embody it. I found my purpose. I began to recognize when I was in alignment with my heart, and when I wasn’t.

When we live from the heart—in true and consistent alignment with our highest self—we enter a state known as heart-brain coherence. The heart becomes the leader, communicating with the brain, and the brain responds by laying out a life path aligned with spiritual truth. The heart knows how to take any experience—no matter how painful—and transmute it with love.

Spiritual living doesn’t mean you’ll float through life untouched by hardship. It means you know, even in your most challenging moments, that life is unfolding with divine intelligence.

So how do we apply this to the world today? What does it mean to take our untamed hearts and bring them to the situations we despise, the injustices we see, the pain we witness? It means we don’t turn that pain into hatred or hopelessness. Instead, we transform it—through the alchemy of the heart—into moments of love, wisdom, and global healing.

This week in a class I am taking called Vitality, we were given a powerful directive: “Love only. It sounds simple, but it’s not easy. It requires us to continually “swallow the light.” Loving only doesn’t mean approval of unjust or bad behavior. It doesn’t mean we like what’s happening. It means we choose to pour more love into the world despite what’s happening.

Can we be kinder?
Can we love ourselves more?
Can we live our purpose—even when it’s uncomfortable?
Can we make decisions from our heart?

That is the alchemy of the heart. When we love only—starting with ourselves—we become exactly who and where we’re meant to be. We become the instruments through which divine action flows. We are guarded, guided, and directed by the same unseen force that created the stars and galaxies—and that lives within each of us.

Recently, I sang Colors of the Wind, from the film Pocahantas. and it struck me more deeply than ever. The song reminds us that it’s mandatory right now to live an entangled, interconnected life. A life that prioritizes collaboration over competition, connection over control, and truth over being right.

We may not be able to stop the systems of power and greed, but we can transmute them.
We can lead with the heart. We can swallow more light. And we can become the gold the world so desperately needs.

With Love and Aloha,

Rev. Dr. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Co-Founding Spiritual Director CSL Kaua’i

Catch our Podcast: “From Woo Woo to Wow Wow” on Youtube: Woo Woo to Wow Wow