The Alchemy of Blood is a contemporary literary poetry collection exploring psychological transformation through the four alchemical stages interpreted by Carl Jung—Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. Through these stages the poems trace an emotional and psychological journey from rupture and disorientation toward renewal and the fragile possibility of beginning again.
The collection moves through love and grief, family and intimate relationships, social unrest, ecological anxiety, and the shifting inner landscapes of contemporary life.
The arc of human life—from birth to death—forms a quiet thematic thread running through the four progressive sections.
Nature, human connectedness, innocence, and darkness are evoked through a variety of confessional, critical, humorous, and probing voices. Vignettes and stories emerge in some poems as the author challenges and plays with form and tone.
At times intimate and introspective, at times confrontational or darkly playful, the poems explore how individuals and societies navigate instability, contradiction, rebirth, and the persistent search for meaning.
Richard LaBrie is a poet and musician who works primarily as a clinical psychologist in private practice in the Pasadena area of Southern California. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he earned a BFA in Film and Television Production from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He later completed his MA and PsyD in Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, where he received the Jim Stophel Scholarship for his poem "Flaw."
