Step Into the Path of Alchemy
Ancient Daoist Alchemy for modern transformation. We teach the Nine Stages of Alchemy, the Thirteen Ghost Points, and the esoteric wisdom of spiritual cultivation—for your own journey, and for practitioners who want to guide others.
Why Alchemy?
In ancient times, Alchemists chose a different way — not to be tossed by life’s storms, but to navigate with intention and wisdom. They sought something greater than success or status: to become a “Zhen Ren,” a realized human being who embodies all Five Elements in harmony.
This is the path of transformation — and we believe it’s a road truly worth taking.
Two Paths: One Foundation
Alchemy is not a one-size-fits-all journey. That’s why we offer two distinct paths — one for self-cultivators and one for healing practitioners. Whether you’re here to transform your own inner world or to support others in their healing, both journeys begin with the same powerful foundations and then unfold in the way that best serves your growth, purpose, and practice.
The Self-Cultivator Path is for individuals seeking to deepen their emotional awareness, spiritual connection, and energetic balance through the lens of Alchemical wisdom. Whether you’re just starting out or already walking a healing path, this journey offers practices and insights to support your personal evolution.
Understand Our Approach
Start with these free resources to understand our approach:
- Connecting Your Circle book – Five Elements primer to understand your Elemental makeup
- Intro to Alchemical Meditations – begin your Alchemy Meditation practice
- Inspired Action Podcast – explore topics that call to you (use the Pod List to find episodes)
Essential Foundation Classes
Everyone begins here – these core teachings establish the energetic language and framework:
- Understanding the Five Elements ($88) – discover your authentic Elemental nature
- Understanding the Nine Palaces of the Heart ($188) – understand your life patterns and what drives you
Personal Exploration
The basics to start your practice:
- Intro to Alchemy
- Stage 1 Meditations
- Dao Yin Exercises
- Releasing Chaotic Energy
- Love and the Five Elements
Live practice:
- Meditation Monday ($25/session)
- Five Element Friday ($25/session)
Deep-Dive Programs
12-week immersive programs ($1,600 each) – choose based on what resonates:
- Alchemy Stone Medicine
- Alchemy Plant Spirit Medicine (coming soon)
- Alchemy Five Spirits (coming soon)
- Heart-Centered Alchemy (coming soon)
Mastery Level
6-10 month mastermind programs:
- Master Alchemy Apprenticeship Program
- Alchemy Life Strategy Intensive – For self-cultivators and practitioners who want to facilitate or coach others, holding space for transformation. (Coming soon)
The Practitioner Path is for acupuncturists, bodyworkers, energy workers, and healing professionals who want to go beyond protocols—and into the deeper energetic, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of healing. Whether you’re new to this work or already practicing Chinese Medicine, you’ll discover our Alchemical approach is unlike anything you’ve learned before—transforming both your practice and yourself.
Understand Our Approach
Start with these free resources to understand our approach:
Free Webinars:
- Thirteen Ghost Points Webinar – our most-watched clinical teaching
- Advanced Five Elements Webinar – how we work with Five Elements differently
- Alchemy and the Ghost Points webinar – understand the system
Free Resources:
- Through the Mystery Gate audiobook – complete Alchemy foundation
- Intro to Alchemical Meditations – start your own practice (essential)
- Inspired Action Podcast + Pod List
Essential Foundation Classes
Everyone begins here – these core teachings establish the energetic language and framework:
- Understanding the Five Elements ($88) – discover your authentic Elemental nature
- Understanding the Nine Palaces of the Heart ($188) – understand your life patterns and what drives you
- Intro to Alchemy for Practitioners ($188) – clinical application of Alchemy
Personal Exploration
You can’t guide clients through Alchemy without doing your own work first.
- Intro to Alchemical Meditations (free)
- Stage 1, 2, 3 Meditations ($18.88 each)
- Meditation Monday (live practice with us)
Deep-Dive Programs
12-week immersive programs ($1,600 each)
- Alchemy Stone Medicine Level 1 – work with stones clinically
- Five Spirits Level 1 – deep Elemental embodiment
- Alchemy Plant Spirit Medicine Level 1 – work with plant allies
- Heart-Centered Alchemy Level 1 – void of the heart work
Mastery Level
Master Alchemy Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) 10-month comprehensive training in Alchemical Chinese Medicine. Learn Ghost Points treatment, Nine Stages of Alchemy, Starry Sky Points, and entity work.
Your transformation first – includes 10 monthly personal Alchemy sessions with us.
Investment: Starts at $560/month for 10 months | Next cohort: January 2026
Alchemy Life Strategy Intensive – for advanced MAAP students/graduates (coming 2026)
Two Paths: One Foundation
Alchemy is not a one-size-fits-all journey. That’s why we offer two distinct paths—one for self-cultivators and one for healing practitioners. Both begin with the same powerful foundations of Alchemical wisdom, then unfold in ways that support your unique intentions, whether you’re seeking personal transformation or deepening your work with others. The Self-Cultivator Path is designed for those wanting to develop emotional awareness, spiritual connection, and energetic balance through embodied practice and insight. The Practitioner Path is for acupuncturists, bodyworkers, energy workers, and healing professionals ready to move beyond protocols into the deeper energetic, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of healing—transforming not only how you work, but who you are within the work.
For those called to deepen their inner world—this path supports emotional awareness, energetic balance, and spiritual growth through Alchemical practice.
Understand Our Approach
Free • Begin Here
- Five elements primer
- Intro to Alchemical Meditation
- Podcast teaching for modern life
Essential Foundations
Core Courses
- Five Elements
- Nine Palaces
Personal Exploration
Ongoing Practice
- Meditation & Do Yin
- Emotional & Energetic Regulation
- Weekly Live Practices
Deep-Dive Programs
12-Week Immersions
- Stone Medicine
- Five Spirits (coming soon)
- Plant Spirit Medicine (coming soon)
- Heart-Centered Alchemy (coming soon)
Mastery Level
6-10 Month Programs
- Apprenticeship & Mentorship
- Facilitating transformation for self & others
For healers ready to move beyond technique—this path reveals the deeper energetic and spiritual layers that transform both your practice and yourself.
Understand Our Approach
Free • Begin Here
- Connecting Your Circle Book
- Intro to Alchemical Meditations
- Essence & Points Traditions
Essential Foundations
Core Courses
- Five Elements
- Nine Palaces
Personal Exploration
Clinical Techniques
- Elemental & Ghost Points
- Healing the Emotional Body
- Energetic Regulation & Rebalancing
Deep-Dive Programs
12-Week Immersions
- Stone Medicine
- Five Spirits (coming soon)
- Plant Spirit Medicine (coming soon)
- Heart-Centered Alchemy (coming soon)
Mastery Level
6-10 Month Programs
- Apprenticeship & Mentorship
- Facilitating transformation for self & others
What Our Students & Alumni Say...
“I feel like it’s really changing how I interface with the world. I feel like it’s giving me the tools that I need to develop my relationships and my passions. It’s allowing me to just live the life I really want to live. I think if you’re ready for change, that it’s the perfect thing. Sometimes it’s a little scary – change always is. But if you’re ready to do it and want to experience more out of life, I think it’s a perfect way to get that.”

Chris O'Connell
Business Owner, Musician, and Self-Cultivator
“Leta and Jaye have a wonderful ability to create sacred space and hold the container for everyone. I felt completely at ease, and I learned SO MUCH!! This medicine is amazing, and I am so grateful they are sharing it.”

Brittney Chowning, LAC
Alchemy Practitioner and Acupuncturist
“I’ve done other trainings in other alternative healing methods, but I’ve never been in a program like this where I felt so held and where I could really have a personal relationship with my mentors.”

Mikhael Oskarrson
Alchemy and Stone Medicine Practitioner
FAQ's
You can take 1 or 2 levels of this 3-level program. Each level also has its own certification process. So you can be certified in level 1 as soon as you finish the requirements and graduate from Level 1.
Coursework ($5,600) gives you the complete Level 1 training: all 26 lectures, your 10 monthly Alchemy sessions, prerequisite courses, Q&A sessions, and access to Meditation Monday and Five Element Friday. You learn the Ghost Points protocol, Stages 1 & 2 of Alchemy, and complete your own transformation. You can advance to Level 2 after completing Level 1 coursework.
Certification ($4,350-$6,150) adds the clinical training components: observing treatments, supervised practice sessions, independent treatments with supervision, and your graduation requirements. This is what qualifies you to offer Ghost Points treatments to clients, gives you 90+ CEUs, and gets you listed as a certified practitioner on our website.
Many students complete the coursework, move to Level 2, and add certification later — often completing their clinical work in their second year. Certification is optional but required if you want credentials, CEUs, to be listed on our Web site, or to practice this work clinically.
The coursework is entirely virtual, so you can participate from anywhere in the world with reliable internet. For certification, you’ll need to travel to receive and observe in-person Ling-Shu treatments (available in Northampton, MA and other US locations, or at our retreats). Supervised Ghost Points treatments can also be arranged in various locations.
Yes, you can complete the coursework from anywhere. However, for certification, you’ll need to travel to the US for in-person treatment observations and supervised clinical work. We also have students who time their certification work with our retreats or visits to the US.
Yes. Practitioner Certification students are eligible to receive 90+ NCCAOM continuing education credits (or 50+ California CEUs) after completing all prerequisites and certification requirements. Our current year’s program is pending NCCAOM approval, however, every year we receive approval.
We want students who are genuinely ready for this work. Due to the personalized nature of the program and our small cohort size, refunds are limited.
Before the second class: Full refund minus $500 (administrative fee) and cost of any sessions already received.
After the second class: Tuition is non-refundable.
If you’re on a payment plan and need to withdraw, your payments will stop, and you’ll retain access to all materials and recordings you’ve paid for through your withdrawal date.
If you’ve paid in full and need to withdraw, you’ll retain access to all course materials and recordings, and can rejoin a future cohort (if available) without re-paying tuition.
For certification components paid separately (observations, supervised treatments), these are non-refundable once services have been scheduled or rendered.
In cases of documented medical or family emergencies that prevent program participation, please contact us directly to discuss possible accommodation.
Schedule a Discovery Call to discuss scheduling a treatment
Need Deep Healing?
If you're dealing with trauma, grief, ancestral patterns, or things that feel like they're haunting you, the Ghost Points treatment might be what you need. This is clinical work done by trained practitioners.
Schedule a Discover Call →Who We Are
We’re Leta Herman and Jaye McElroy. We run the Alchemy Healing Center in Northampton, Massachusetts, where we practice what we teach. And we created the Alchemy Learning Center because Daoist Inner Alchemy changed our lives completely.
For over two decades, we’ve immersed ourselves in esoteric traditions—studying with teachers in the Shang Qing lineage of Daoist alchemy, plant spirit medicine practitioners, and bodywork masters. We’ve synthesized all of this into a comprehensive teaching system that honors the ancient wisdom while making it accessible for modern seekers and practitioners.
This isn’t about collecting more techniques. It’s about transformation—yours first, then maybe helping others with theirs.