Unurthed Cramer’s Emblems October 4th, 2011 Six of forty emblems from Daniel Cramer’ s 1617 The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer , each presenting a contemplative exercise working upon the heart process of a Rosicrucian meditator. Prefaces Cramer: “And so, Reader, you have the work of death and life, The embossings of the Holy page, and a short epigram. These will be able to show and teach your mind What your state was once and what it may become today” (p16). Emblem 2: I INCREASE “‘But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.’ (Luke 8:15) “I am not a road, or a thorn, or a stone, but the best earth; And sweet ears of corn will rise from the bossom of my heart” (p25). Emblem 6: I AM ILLUMINATED
Transcript
UnurthedCramer’s Emblems
October 4th, 2011
Six of forty emblems from Daniel Cramer’s 1617 The Rosicrucian Emblems of Daniel Cramer, eachpresenting a contemplative exercise working upon the heart process of a Rosicrucian meditator. PrefacesCramer:
“And so, Reader, you have the work of death and life,The embossings of the Holy page, and a short epigram.These will be able to show and teach your mindWhat your state was once and what it may become today” (p16).
Emblem 2: I INCREASE
“‘But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it andbring forth fruit with patience.’ (Luke 8:15)
“I am not a road, or a thorn, or a stone, but the best earth;And sweet ears of corn will rise from the bossom of my heart” (p25).
From key two, the wedding of Apollo and Diana (p16). Click for larger version.
“This [emblem] shows Diana [the moon goddess] seated on the tomb of her dear husband Apollo [the sungod], where his ashes have been enclosed, which she swallows as a sign of the overwhelming love she bearshim. Her garments shine with all the colours found in nature. Hercules is to be found on one side of thesepulchre, and Vulcan on the other. I shall explain what takes place in the glass sphere during themultiplication, which lasts about nine or ten months. Here Vulcan represents the external fire and Herculesthe patience of the practitioner which overcomes all obstacles. The fixed remains in the bottom of the egg andall the liquid gradually becomes viscous, but before its total coagulation one may see through the view holesof the athanor or furnace, in a glimmer of light, all the colours of nature. One must not dwell on these,especially as they are not real, proceeding as they do from a reflection of light. It is after the conjunction ofour two beautiful and precious substances has taken place that can be seen in due time in a far moremarvellous fashion all the colours of the rainbow, mainly the blessed green, an infallible sign of the vegetablenature of our Stone…” (p17, translated from the French).
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Alchemy, Emblems1 Comment »
The Mercurial Bird
September 13th, 2009
Three illustrations of Mercurial birds, representing the volatile nature of alchemical work.
Emblem 9 (of 12) from the 1752 Hermaphrodite Child of the Sun and Moon by unknown alchemist L.C.S.,reproduced by Adam McLean (p42).
Translates Mike Brenner in McLean’s edition: “A soaring eagle with heart aflame, with the Sun and Moon atthe threshold of its wings, bears tokens of dominion: the crown of influence, the sceptre of the king, and theglobe of the empress.
“Its buoyancy in flight and its flaming heart show the ethereal nature of this eagle: wet outside, fire inside. Itis our Liquid Mercury.
“The Sun and Moon seek solace under the shadow of these wings, basking in the pleasing radiation from theflaming heart.
“To win the Crown of the Earth, fuse the power of the sceptre and the globe…” (p42).
Copperplate 7 (of 19) from Johann Conrad Barchusen’s 1718 Elementa chemiae, appearing in JohannesFabricius’s 1976 collection, Alchemy (p18).
Comments Fabricius: In plate 7 “the deluge [cf. the biblical Flood] leaves only a small patch of land, onwhich the Hermes bird descends [beneath the symbol of Mercury]. The chaotic situation is emphasized by theemergence of the seven planets on the horizon, a symbol of universal disorder. As indicated by the sign ofsulphur, the sinking island is set on fire by sulphurous flames from the hellish interior of the earth. Yet thealchemist’s sinking island is ‘supported’ by a sealed chest of drawers emerging from the sea and containingimmense riches of silver and gold. Although the adept’s world has become a sinking island, it has beensimultaneously transformed into a treasure island” (p18).
Second woodcut of the 1550 Rosarium philosophorum, also appearing in Fabricius’s Alchemy (p24).
In this depiction “the king, standing atop the sun and representing the spiritus, meets the bride of his choice,resting on the moon and representing the anima. The rose branches crossed by king and queen bear out theirmutual love, but the court clothes suggest the restrained nature of their initial encounter.
“The two roses at the end of each branch refer to the four elements, two of which are active and masculine(fire and air), while two are passive and feminine (water and earth). Their ordered arrangement in a ‘rosiecross’ suggests the abatement of the prima materia and its warring elements. The fifth flower is brought by thedove of the Holy Ghost, a parallel of Noah’s dove carrying the olive branch of reconciliation in its beak.Descending from the quintessential star, the bird reconciles the masculine and feminine elements, just as itsthird branch equates the rose branches with the three pipes of the mercurial fountain, now transformed into astem of roses.
“The dove is the agent effecting the rapprochement between king and queen, just as the bird indicates thespiritual and heavenly nature of their love. The unusual character of this affair is further stressed by thepartners’ left-handed contact. This uncustomary gesture points to the closely guarded secret of theirinfringement of a general taboo. Actually, the royal couple engages in ‘unnatural’ and illegitimate love, thesecret of which is of an incestuous nature: the bride is the king’s own sister. Hence the ‘Rosarium’
admonishes: ‘Mark well, in the art of our magisterium nothing is concealed by the philosophers except thesecret of the art…'” (p24).
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Alchemy, Emblems1 Comment »
The Pneumo-Cosmic Manuscript
June 16th, 2008
Five paintings from the Pneumo-Cosmic Manuscript, an enigmatic sequence of 52 such alchemicalillustrations. Neither the author nor the date of the work are known (although the paper establishes a terminusa quo of mid to late 18th century), and no explanatory text is provided beyond a brief introductory paragraph(see below). The present edition was reproduced from a manuscript in Glasgow University’s Fergusoncollection and hand-bound by Adam McLean.
“A work of natural magic, fashioned with an admirable brush of pneumo-cosmic nature. The characteristicsof the universal prototype of Chaos, through the artful ape of Nature, have been represented to itself in manyimages, and preserved to eternity the memory of this matter” (title page, from the Latin).
Four emblems from The Hermetic Garden of Daniel Stolcius. This 1620 collection includes 160 emblemsappearing in Mylius‘s Opus Medico Chymicum, each accompanied by a four line Latin verse composed byStolcius. The present edition was hand-colored and -made by Adam McLean.
The selection of emblems below concerns the Philosophical Stone.
Emblem 27: Mitigo, the Philosopher.
However men and beasts despise the Stone, yet it is loved by the wise.
However men and beasts trample the Stone,It still takes no notice of them all.For only at the hands of philosophers is it investigated;These it loves and delights in them especially.
He who seeks the Stone shall search the interior of the Earth.And there shall find where the Medicine lies hidden,There recognize the many headed Dragon,There see what may become the Lion by our Art.
Emblem 100: Petrus, Monk and Philosopher.
The fiery little light lives in the Earth, and water cannot extinguish it, for it is heavenly.
This heavenly radiance is hidden in caverns in the ground.Yet still the moist wave cannot put it out.Seek it. Revolve the whole world, like Atlas, in your mind.Perhaps you will find it.
Emblem 107: Hortulanus, Philosopher and Chemist.
Only he who knows how to make the Philosopher’s Stone, understands what they say concerning the Stone.
Only he who knows how to produce our Stone,Hears the mystic words of the hidden chorus.Then, in the amazing, different cycle of the Elements, he perceives,And obtains by entreaty, the longed for riches of Hermogenes.
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Alchemy, Emblems2 Comments »
Geometry of the Opus Alchymicum
October 21st, 2007
Three etchings reproduced in Johannes Fabricius’s Alchemy: The Medieval Alchemists and Their Royal Art.
Emblema XXXIX of Michael Maier’s 1618 Atalanta fugiens (see earlier post).
“The foreground figures illustrate the riddle of the Sphinx: What is that which walks on four in the morning,on two at noon, on three in the evening? Answer: Man. The geometrical signs inscribed on the threeforeground figures refer to the opus and to the composition of the philosopher’s stone [says Maier]: ‘The truemeaning is: first one should consider the square, or the four elements; from there one should advance to thehemisphere, which has two lines, the straight and the curved one, representing Luna, who is made white; afterthat one should pass to the triangle, which consists of body, soul, and spirit, or Sol, Luna, and Mercurius'”(p32).
Basil Valentine‘s Tenth Key, 1599. The Latin inscriptions read: ‘I am born of Hermogenes. Hyperion electedme. Without Jamsuph I am compelled to perish’.
The above “shows Basil Valentine’s emblem of the third coniunctio and the production of the stone. Itstrinitarian design merges the sun and moon (top corners) in the sign of Mercurius philosophorum (bottomcorner). The Trinity is inscribed with a radiant double-circle… symbolizing the philosopher’s egg. Its‘nesting’ in heaven is expressed by the name of the Highest inscribed in the stone’s centre”.
“Basil Valentine’s ‘election’ by Hyperion is a reference to solar rebirth, Hyperion in Greek mythologyrepresenting the Father of the Sun. The text reads: ‘In our stone, as composed by me and by those who havelong preceded me, are contained all elements, all mineral and metallic forms, and all the qualities andproperties of the whole world. In it we find the most powerful natural heat, by which the icy body of Saturn isgently transmuted into the best gold. It contains also the highest degree of cold, which tempers the ferventheat of Venus and coagulates the living Mercurius, which is thereby also changed into the finest gold. Thereason for this is that all the properties are infused by nature into the substance of our great stone, and aredeveloped, perfected, and matured by the gentle coction of natural fire, until they have attained their finalperfection'” (p165).
Emblema XXI of Michael Maier’s 1618 Atalanta fugiens. ‘Here followeth the Figure conteyning all thesecrets of the Treatise both great & small’.
“Above, the alchemist performs the squaring the circle [see earlier post], thereby turning the two sexes intoone. The motto repeats a saying of the ‘Rosarium’: ‘Make a circle out of a man and woman, derive from it asquare, and from the square a triangle: make a circle and you will have the philosopher’s stone.’ As informedby the text, the triangle denotes the unity of body, soul and spirit. Of this operation Petrus Bonus says: ‘In thisconjunction of resurrection, the body becomes wholly spiritual, like the soul herself, and they are made one
as water is mixed with water, and henceforth they are not separated for ever, since there is no diversity inthem, but unity and identity of all three, that is, spirit, soul and body, without separation for ever'” (p198).
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Alchemy, Diagrams, Emblems3 Comments »
Wither’s Collection of Emblems
July 14th, 2007
Five of 200 emblems collected and explained by George Wither in his 1635 Collection of Emblemes, Ancientand Moderne (2003 Kessinger facsimile).
“For, when levitie, or a childish delight, in trifling Objects, hath allowed them to looke on the Pictures;Curiositie may urge them to peepe further, that they might seeke out also their Meanings, in our annexedIllustrations; In which, may lurke some Sentence, or Expression so evidently pertinent to their Estates,Persons, or Affections, as will (at that instant or afterward) make way for those Considerations, which will, atlast, wholly change them, or much better them, in their Conversation” (pA2).
“What cannot be by Force attain’d, By Leisure, and Degrees, is gain’d” (p49).
“He, that concealed things will finde, Must looke before him, and behinde” (p138).
“Each Day a Line, small tasks appeares. Yet, much it makes in threescore Yeares” (p158).
linz
“True Vertue, whatfoere betides, In all extreames, unmoov’d abides” (p218).
“The Garland, He alone shall weare, Who, to the Goale, doth persevere” (p258).
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Emblems3 Comments »
Interlaced Tetractyses and the Great Seal of the United States
June 3rd, 2007
Reverse and obverse of the Great Seal of the United States, engraved on the back of the American dollar bill,with Campbell’s description from The Inner Reaches of Outer Space (see earlier post).
“Whereas behind the pyramid there is only a desert to be seen, before and around it are the sprouting signs ofa new and fresh beginning… a ‘new order of the world’ (novus ordo seclorum)” (p126).
“There at the summit of a symbolic pyramid (the World Mountain) we see an eye within a radiant, upward-pointing triangle (the World Eye, God’s Eye, Eye of Spirit). It is at that point of rest (stasis) at the summitwhere the opposed sides come together” (p125).
“In the radiant disk above the American bald eagle’s head the stars of the original 13 states are composed toform a Solomon’s seal symbolic of the union of soul and body, spirit and matter. Each of the interlacedequilateral triangles, one upward turned, the other downward, is a Pythagorean tetraktys, or ‘perfect triangleof fourness,’ of nine points, four to a side, enclosing a tenth representing the generative center (‘still point ofthe turning world’) out of which the others derive their force. The upward triangle is of spiritual, thedownward pointing, of physical energy. Thus interlaced, the two represent the physical world as informed bythe spiritual” (p128).
“When viewed as outlining a pyramid, the upward pointing triangle matches the pyramid on the reverse ofthe Seal, with the single point at its apex corresponding to the Eye out of which the expanding form of theuniverse has proceeded. As symbolized in the traditional Pythagorean tetraktys, the energy emanating fromthat initial point (which is of the opening both from and to Eternity [cf. prajna eye]) yields, first, duality (2points: measure and chaos, subject and object, light and dark, odd and even, male and female, etc.), whichthen relate to each other in three ways (3 points: either a dominant, b dominant, or a and b in accord), whencederive all the phenomenal forms in the field of space-time (4 points: 4 quarters of the earth and heavens).There is a verse in the Tao Teh Ching: ‘The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three;Three produced All things'” (p128).
“Connotations of the same order pertain, of course, to the downward turned tetraktys, with its single point atthe apex opening also from and to Eternity; so that, ‘What is above is below,’ and the energy of the Spirit(however named), whether from without (as from the Eye, the apex above) or from within the world (theapex below) is one” (p128).
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Emblems, Hermetic7 Comments »
Continuing on the theme of the last plate of the last post, four engravings from three works of the masterminer Goossen van Vreeswijk: De Roode Leeuw (The Red Lion), 1674; De Groene Leeuw (The Green Lion),1674; and De Goude Son (The Golden Sun), 1675. These engravings are also collected in de Rola’santhology (see previous posts), bringing the total here to just 14 of his collected 533.
“‘To make the Bird fly’ is to free the Spirit from its material prison, that it may soar in the alchemical sky andbring back Below the benefits of what is Above. The whole Work, and I have repeatedly stated, is a series ofDissolutions” (p251).
“‘Make the Earth fly’, enjoin the authors; and indeed the Dissolution of our chosen Subject opens the portalsof the Garden of the Wise. In rising from the Earth below to the Sky above, the Subject acquires the strength
Regarding the path, “the Hermetick Labyrinth symbolizes the material realization of the Great Work. Themaze expresses two main difficulties: how to reach its centre and how to get out again. To reach the centre,one must first acquire sure knowledge of the Subject of the Art, and of its preparation, which is accomplishedat the central pavilion. The return journey — when the chances of getting lost are greatly increased —signifies the mutation of the prepared Matter with the help of Fire. One sees Fire leading Matter on, guidedby Ariadne’s thread. The thread is the Possibility of Nature: the fact that like produces like” (p251).
As for method, “the result of assiduous studies, speculations and theories will be verified by practice. Thespiritual dimension of Alchemy can only be attained by using one’s hands. Ora et Labora sic habebis: ‘Prayand Work, thus thou shalt receive'” (p264).
Solve et Coagula: Mylius, Balthazar, and the Philosophia reformata
May 10th, 2007
Drawing again from de Rola’s anthology (see earlier post), seven emblems by Balthazar (Baltzer Schwan)from Johann Daniel Mylius‘s 1622 Philosophia reformata.
These engravings illustrate application of the alchemical formula Solve et Coagula — ‘Dissolve the Fixedand Coagulate the Volatile’ — towards the ultimate conjunction of those opposing principles: thePhilosopher’s Stone. The descriptions below are de Rola’s.
“Without help from the Volatile, the Fixed is never sublimated; and conversely, the Volatile in growing Fixedgrows more and more resistant to the tyranny of the external Fire” (p180).
“Every fixation of the Volatile (the fleeing maiden caught by the monster) is followed by a volatilization ofthe Fixed until Perfection is reached” (p180).
“The First Silver Perfection is reached at the end of the Putrefaction” (p181).
“Here is the Universal Dissolvent, the Green Lion or Mercury of the Wise, without which nothing can beachieved” (p181).
“Three faces of the Stone: the Philosophick Child, the purified Matter; the Old Man in the sphere, the MateriaPrima; and the union of the three Principles, Mercury, Sulphur and Salt” (p182).
“This emblem (equivalent in significance to the image of a Mermaid or Siren) shows the union of Sulphur(our Fish) and of the first Mercury (the Woman), from which results Philosophick Mercury” (p182).
“Here are the components of the Secret Fire: the fiery Water and the watery Fire which, excited by theordinary Elemental Fire, cause the Birds to fly” (p182).
Posted by Greg Pass Filed in Alchemy, Emblems4 Comments »« Previous Posts
Recent PostsAn Understanding of NatureJensen’s Great PyramidDowd on MetaphorScully’s Wall of LightSalk on World Population and Human ValuesItten on Expressive FormsCramer’s EmblemsKlee on PluralismHankiewicz’s HeartsGabo’s Kinetic PaintingsNicholas on CogitoPsience and Relatedness Per SeThe Lüscher Color TestAn Aspect of Divine EnergyStiskin’s Representation of Dualistic Monism
