 It became apparent to the alchemists that they were trying to redeem nature as Christ had redeemed man, hence the identification of the "Lapis Philosophorum" with Christ the Redeemer.The Opus (work) of alchemy, viewed through this interpretation, becomes a symbolic account of the fundamental process the human psyche undergoes as it re-orients its value system and creates meaning out of chaos.The opus beginning with the nigredo (blackening, akin to depression or nihilistic loss of value) in order to descend back into the manipulable "prima materia" and proceeding through a process of spiritual purification that must unite seemingly irreconcilable opposites (the coniunctio) to achieve new levels of consciousness.