Alchemy Gothic Broken Promise Heart Adjustable Ring R258The vow is cast asunder as betrayal strikes its deadly blow. A sacred covenant is struck down and love lies bleeding. In Alchemy the broken heart is not a symbol of permanent tragedy but a crucial metaphor for the transmutation of the self. It represents the necessary destruction of the old, ego driven identity to allow for spiritual rebirth. A broken heart corresponds to the nigredo or "blackening" stage of the alchemical process, where the soul