Michael Firsow and Denise Gindhart Into the alchemy of transformation

from Chadds Ford Life Fall/Winter 2022 Edition

by Ad Pro Inc.

Chadds Ford Business Association

Since 2016, Michael Firsow and Denise Gindhart have brought their life experiences and spiritual teachings into their work with individuals, groups and organizations Into the alchemy of transformation

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

Speaking purely in the ethereal, the Divine Masculine projects its energy outward by virtue of action and assertion, personifying logic, emotional strength and a goal-driven work ethic. In contrast, the energy of the Divine Feminine is channeled inward by the forces of collaboration and communication in a manner that radiates divine love, creativity, intuition, emotionality and faith.

When these two dissimilar forces are merged – when they manifest their separate powers as one -- they create a delicate dance of joined energy that is virtually impenetrable.

This is the story of that delicate dance. This is the story of Michael Firsow, Denise Gindhart and how they came to create Alchemy, the Soul of Transformation in Chadds Ford.

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Denise Gindhart and Michael Firsow of Alchemy, The Soul of Transformation in Chadds Ford.

On the surface at least, Michael Firsow was the personification of success. After graduating from the University of Maryland in the late 1980s, he became a civil engineer and then embarked on a career in mortgage banking, and with it came all of the trappings: a nice car, a sweet condo, sharp suits and ties and responsibilities, and the easy luxury of expendable income. He was the master of his own universe.

“I was having a conversation with a friend of mine around that time, and I told him that I defined myself as the good friend who would drop everything to help someone,” Firsow said. “He then told me, ‘Michael. You’re not that kind of guy at all. You are all about you and your goals.’

“My friend was right. I was driven by a desire for more money and more success, but I had no peace. I was living my life on automatic pilot, and there was never an original or authentic thought in my head, ever.

“I looked inside and asked myself what would make me happy, and my inner voice began to ask me, ‘What do you want to be?’ For some reason, I heard the word ‘Love,’ but at the time, I didn’t know what that meant. At the time, love seemed untouchable to me, but it was what I aspired to feel.”

In the early stages of his journey of self reflection and definition, Firsow began to read books on spirituality and began to meditate regularly and in 1996, he read “The Autobiography of a Yogi,” by Paramahansa Yogananda. Considered to be the bible of meditation and yoga to many Westerners since its publication in 1946, the book served as a touchstone that changed the entire direction of Firsow’s life and led him toward the path of enlightenment and the study of Hinduism.

He spent 13 years as a Brahmachari – a Hindu Monk -- and many were spent in Varanasi, India, where he ran non-profit Humanitarian organizations for an International Ashram, a women’s empowerment center and shelter, a children’s school, and a hunger relief program.

While in Varanasi, Firsow was asked to serve as the key facilitator for the construction of a $2 million ashram, and chaired a commission that was made up of very influential stakeholders. While they provided the “structure” of the project, they did not possess the precious other side that Michael knew he needed: “Creation.”

“I spent four years trying to make this project work – through the organization, through a committee and through global fundraisers, but there was still a gap missing,” he said. “I didn’t know what that gap was and how it could be filled, but I realized that there was something here that I couldn’t manifest. That project needed an energetic connection – a building of shared momentum -- that was more than just about raising money.”

Soon, the gap in the creation of the ashram was filled by Denise Gindhart – a 35-year veteran of international design and construction and a meditation practitioner herself – who was asked to join Firsow’s committee to build the ashram.

Alchemy hosts a wide variety of spiritual gatherings throughout the year.

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From early childhood, Denise Gindhart carried with her a spiritual gift that transcended mere religion.

“I always had a deep spiritual connection with God, but I always knew that there was something beyond what I was learning from my faith,” said Gindhart, who was raised in a Catholic family in Erie, Pa. “I loved the experience of it, but not the part where I was being told what to think. I was gifted during this time with being very intuitive and insightful and I had the ability to sense or see things that others couldn’t, so I began the journey of trying to understand what that gift was.”

Following her graduation from Penn State, Gindhart balanced the responsibilities of her entry into the corporate world with motherhood and her interest in meditation, and through a connection with the organization Firsow was connected with in India – they also shared the same spiritual teacher -- joined his committee remotely while still living in Philadelphia. She soon found out that the group was a consortium of different voices charged with a necessary yet burdensome agenda.

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“I offered the suggestion that all we needed to do was meditate on this in order to create the necessary vortex to get this project up and running,” she said. “That was the first touch point between Michael and me – the fact that there was someone else who feels the same way he did.”

In spite of the thousand of miles and several time zones that separated them, Firsow and Gindhart communicated virtually, and traded off guided meditations that helped to guide the project along. When they first met months later at a global conference in Boston, “our connection was like an explosion, a total opening up on so many levels,” Michael said. “Up to the time I met Denise, it was all about my individual enlightenment, but we were being moved into a collective community, working on a larger level than just our individual enlightenment.”

“When you bring the balance of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine together, it becomes potent and creates the ability to transform,” Gindhart said. “It was an incredible love between us, but it was also an intention that asked, ‘How do we serve?’ Michael and I saw the potential of what we could do, so the question became, ‘How do we express this in the world to provide people with an access point?’

“I began to realize that I am on my path in an effort to hold as much light as I can, but also to serve in whatever capacity that means.”

Eventually, after several weeks of soul searching, Firsow left India and his life as a monk to join Gindhart in Philadelphia. In 2016, they created Alchemy, a Transformation of the Soul, and since 2018, they have transformed their 2.9-acre Chadds Ford property into a sanctuary for learning, spirituality and connection.

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Throughout the year, Alchemy is teeming with a full calendar of both online and in-person meditation sessions; esoteric teachings; individual, community and group workshops and services dedicated to healing and finding profound peace; mindfulness training; and sacred healing

ceremonies and Sunday morning meditations. Visitors to Alchemy often take full advantage of a fully-furnished meditation center and a large, three-season porch for meetings and discussions – all of which are surrounded by stunning views of the Chadds Ford countryside. In short, Alchemy is the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine at work. Michael’s online meditations – available on the Alchemy website – are a stunningly deep dive into the power of the individual to manifest his or her spirit and possibilities. Denise shares her study of Feng Shui, Geomancy and Energy Healing methods with organizations to provide a unique set of skills that support individuals, groups and organizations. In addition, Alchemy provides classes and workshops that reach all sectors of the business community: Organizational Consciousness, Enlightened Leadership, Business Alchemy Coaching and Mindfulness, and Organizational Consciousness. The work of Firsow and Gindhart has its Courtesy photos roots in The Global Awareness Charitable Michael and Denise on a recent Trust, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization spiritual retreat in the Middle East. they founded in 2020 that is committed to supporting humanity in living an enlightened awareness through creating and sponsoring events that promote unity, dissolving all racism, promoting cross-cultural communication, fostering community, and honoring all people in their unique expression. While Firsow and Gindhart can speak first-hand about the challenge adults have to permit themselves to come in contact with their spiritual selves, allowing one’s self to do so is often the act of abandoning the self-invention of borders and false narratives – the paradigm of misdirected energy. The unlocking of all of these misfirings can be achieved through meditation, they said. “In order to begin your meditation, you have to start to understand yourself as an energetic being,” Firsow said. “That’s why meditation is important, because without it, you cannot step back from your thoughts and emotions and in effect, you remain at the effect of them. You see them as who you are.

“Once you step back, you will have an entirely new menu of choices, rather than reacting to how you’ve conditioned yourself to live. Through meditation, an emotional transformation starts to happen and you begin to feel the higher emotions, and you go more into the heart and it builds to the point where you transcend.”

“A meditation process can help you access peace,” Gindhart said. “It’s about playing. Spend time with a two year-old, because they are completely tuned in. They are not worried about money or what their business card is going to say. They are looking at the butterflies and the sunlight.

“This is not about doing one’s inner child work, but it really is about being able to play, to dance, to sing, to be free. This gives you access points to your own liberation.”

From the large picture windows and porches of their Chadds Ford home, Firsow and Gindhart see hundreds of visitors each year make the journey up their winding driveway to attend a workshop or class, and for every visitor, there is an individual reason for their wanting to be there.

“People want to feel connected with others who are free of judgment and provide unconditional love,” Gindhart said. “Some people who arrive here aren’t feeling well physically, emotionally and spiritually, which too often leads them to a crossroads of choosing between going to victimhood or saying, ‘I have got to dig deeper.’ “It is that friction that can be a catalyst to ignite a transformation, and a lot of people who come here are ready to step onto that.

“Michael and I are here to facilitate you finding that for you.”

Alchemy, The Soul of Transformation is located at 641 Webb Road in Chadds Ford. To learn more, visit www. alchemyforsoul.com.