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aker:books_and_literature:prelude_to_chemistry [2013/09/18 07:44] janusbooks_and_literature:prelude_to_chemistry [2017/02/14 04:18] – ↷ Page moved from aker:books_and_literature:prelude_to_chemistry to books_and_literature:prelude_to_chemistry janus
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 === Enigmas of the Stone === === Enigmas of the Stone ===
  
-p156 <fc green>Here is discussed some of the plates from the [[aker:books_and_literature:mutus_liber|Mutus Liber]] (= silent book), or in French, the //Livre Muet// .  There are some really interesting plates here. </fc>+p156 <fc green>Here is discussed some of the plates from the [[books_and_literature:mutus_liber|Mutus Liber]] (= silent book), or in French, the //Livre Muet// .  There are some really interesting plates here. </fc>
  
 p157 "In the fourth plat (plate 25) the scene is laid in a field, in which the adept and his wife are wringing dew out of a cloth, seemingly under a heavenly influence and subject to the astrological control of the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Taurus.  This proceeding is reminiscent of a passage in a contemporary work by Salmon, which opens with the direction: 'Gather Dew in the Month of //May//, with a clean white Linnen Cloth spread upon the Grass'. \\ <fc green>cf Here the [[aker:books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche#plate_iii-3_21_women_washing|'woman washing']] plate from the //Spendor Solis// . </fc>\\  When this filtered May-dew is digested for fourteen days in horse-dung <fc green> [cf p144 above with reference to the horse dung = moist fire] </fc>, and then distilled... and prepare 'an Elixir of a wonderful virtue in Transmuting of Metals'.<fc red><sup>*</sup></fc>  Dew was sometimes identified with the //Spiritus Mundi//, or 'spirit of the world', a hypothetical spirit or material which the alchemists endowed with many marvellous properties, including the power of **dissolving** gold."\\ <fc red><sup>*</sup></fc><sub> According to another account, May-dew, when distilled with the //aqua fortis//, mixed with sublimated mercury, and putrefied for a month in warm horse-dung ( //fimus equinis// ) <fc green> [cf p144 above] </fc>, was said to yield the wonder-working 'virgin's milk' (//lac virginis//) </sub> p157 "In the fourth plat (plate 25) the scene is laid in a field, in which the adept and his wife are wringing dew out of a cloth, seemingly under a heavenly influence and subject to the astrological control of the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Taurus.  This proceeding is reminiscent of a passage in a contemporary work by Salmon, which opens with the direction: 'Gather Dew in the Month of //May//, with a clean white Linnen Cloth spread upon the Grass'. \\ <fc green>cf Here the [[aker:books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche#plate_iii-3_21_women_washing|'woman washing']] plate from the //Spendor Solis// . </fc>\\  When this filtered May-dew is digested for fourteen days in horse-dung <fc green> [cf p144 above with reference to the horse dung = moist fire] </fc>, and then distilled... and prepare 'an Elixir of a wonderful virtue in Transmuting of Metals'.<fc red><sup>*</sup></fc>  Dew was sometimes identified with the //Spiritus Mundi//, or 'spirit of the world', a hypothetical spirit or material which the alchemists endowed with many marvellous properties, including the power of **dissolving** gold."\\ <fc red><sup>*</sup></fc><sub> According to another account, May-dew, when distilled with the //aqua fortis//, mixed with sublimated mercury, and putrefied for a month in warm horse-dung ( //fimus equinis// ) <fc green> [cf p144 above] </fc>, was said to yield the wonder-working 'virgin's milk' (//lac virginis//) </sub>
  
-<fc green>Discussing the plates from the [[MutusLiber|Mutus Liber]] </fc>\\ +<fc green>Discussing the plates from the [[books_and_literature:mutus_liber|Mutus Liber]] </fc>\\ 
 p157-158 "The sixth plate illustrates more distilling operations, and a flower - possibly the //Sanguis Agni// <fc green>Sanguis = Blood/Red, Agni = I think it would mean plant, or some sort of flora. </fc>  is shown in the still, indicating the appearance of a crucial colour ..." p157-158 "The sixth plate illustrates more distilling operations, and a flower - possibly the //Sanguis Agni// <fc green>Sanguis = Blood/Red, Agni = I think it would mean plant, or some sort of flora. </fc>  is shown in the still, indicating the appearance of a crucial colour ..."
  
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 === Norton's 'Ordinall of Alchimy' === === Norton's 'Ordinall of Alchimy' ===
  
-<fc green>acrostic = a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.\\ There is an interesting footnote in this section about Sir Isaac Newton and his interest in Alchemy.  The Ordinall can be found in Ashmole's [[TheatrumChemicumBritannicum|Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum]]. </fc>+<fc green>acrostic = a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.\\ There is an interesting footnote in this section about Sir Isaac Newton and his interest in Alchemy.  The Ordinall can be found in Ashmole's [[aker:books_and_literature:theatrum_chemicum_britannicum|Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum]]. </fc>
  
 <fc green>This is interesting I think...</fc>\\  <fc green>This is interesting I think...</fc>\\ 
-p176 "In a delightfully naïve reference to the fourth capital letter concerned in this cipher, Ashmole remarks: 'The great //Letter// T. set in //pa// 6. wherein the //Gryphon// is cut, should have been placed the first //Letter// of the //Line// : But this mistake was comitted in my absence ...for giving the //Gryphons// hinder //Feete// , those //cloven ones// of a //Hogg// , instead of the //ungued pawes// of a //Lyon// ' "\\ <fc green>This can be seen in the [[TheatrumChemicumBritannicum]] by Ashmole.</fc> +p176 "In a delightfully naïve reference to the fourth capital letter concerned in this cipher, Ashmole remarks: 'The great //Letter// T. set in //pa// 6. wherein the //Gryphon// is cut, should have been placed the first //Letter// of the //Line// : But this mistake was comitted in my absence ...for giving the //Gryphons// hinder //Feete// , those //cloven ones// of a //Hogg// , instead of the //ungued pawes// of a //Lyon// ' "\\ <fc green>This can be seen in the [[aker:books_and_literature:theatrum_chemicum_britannicum|Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum]] by Ashmole.</fc> 
  
 p176-177 <fc green>A 'philosopher's month' = Forty days. </fc> p176-177 <fc green>A 'philosopher's month' = Forty days. </fc>
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 {{:aker:books_and_literature:prelude_to_chemistry:Compass.png?694|}} {{:aker:books_and_literature:prelude_to_chemistry:Compass.png?694|}}
  
-<fc green>Taken from p61 of [[SecretiorisNatura|Secretioris Naturae Secretorum Scrutinium Chymicum]] </fc>+<fc green>Taken from p61 of [[aker:books_and_literature:secretioris_naturae|Secretioris Naturae Secretorum Scrutinium Chymicum]] </fc>
  
 === The Last Will and Testament === === The Last Will and Testament ===
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 p210 "...The second, which is reproduced below (Plate 39) from a seventeenth-century French engraving, shows the cubic Stone in the midst of seven flowers representing the heavenly bodies." <fc green>Interesting comment worth noting about the flowers representing the planets - this is interesting when you think of the flowered decorations of the illustrations of the [[aker:books_and_literature:the_splendor_solis|Splendor Solis]]...</fc>  p210 "...The second, which is reproduced below (Plate 39) from a seventeenth-century French engraving, shows the cubic Stone in the midst of seven flowers representing the heavenly bodies." <fc green>Interesting comment worth noting about the flowers representing the planets - this is interesting when you think of the flowered decorations of the illustrations of the [[aker:books_and_literature:the_splendor_solis|Splendor Solis]]...</fc> 
  
-p211 "...indicates that the Work must be begun when the Sun is in the sign of the Ram, and that its consummation must be reached in the Bull, 'when the fortieth dawn returns'. (p271)" <fc green>Here again, another interesting comment when you consider Image four from [[aker:books_and_literature:mutus_liber|Mutus Liber]] where the sun is in the sign of the Ram, and also, when you consider the woodcut book, [[aker:books_and_literature:the_planets_and_their_children|The Planets and their Children]] then referenced in [[aker:books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche|Transformation of the Psyche]] when discussing the [[aker:books_and_literature:the_splendor_solis|Splendor Solis]], the diddy for Sol says, 'In the Ram I rule and reign.  But in the Maid I fail, I wane'. </fc> +p211 "...indicates that the Work must be begun when the Sun is in the sign of the Ram, and that its consummation must be reached in the Bull, 'when the fortieth dawn returns'. (p271)" <fc green>Here again, another interesting comment when you consider Image four from [[books_and_literature:mutus_liber|Mutus Liber]] where the sun is in the sign of the Ram, and also, when you consider the woodcut book, [[aker:books_and_literature:the_planets_and_their_children|The Planets and their Children]] then referenced in [[aker:books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche|Transformation of the Psyche]] when discussing the [[aker:books_and_literature:the_splendor_solis|Splendor Solis]], the diddy for Sol says, 'In the Ram I rule and reign.  But in the Maid I fail, I wane'. </fc> 
 ==== Ch 6. A Musical Alchemist ==== ==== Ch 6. A Musical Alchemist ====
 === Libavius on Enigmas of the Stone === === Libavius on Enigmas of the Stone ===
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 == Atalanta Fleeing == == Atalanta Fleeing ==
-p243 "Wherefore Rhazes in his Epistle says //The Stone is triangular in essence, square in quality//." <fc green>This is in reference to the thirty-ninth emblem from [[aker:books_and_literature:atalanta_fugiens|Atalanta Fugiens]] that shows - would you believe - the Oedipus myth.  However, Maier, instead of accepting Oedipus' answer to the Sphynx's riddle gives an 'alchemical explanation' with the symbols shown on the forehead amidst the different scenes of the play.</fc>+p243 "Wherefore Rhazes in his Epistle says //The Stone is triangular in essence, square in quality//." <fc green>This is in reference to the thirty-ninth emblem from [[books_and_literature:atalanta_fugiens|Atalanta Fugiens]] that shows - would you believe - the Oedipus myth.  However, Maier, instead of accepting Oedipus' answer to the Sphynx's riddle gives an 'alchemical explanation' with the symbols shown on the forehead amidst the different scenes of the play.</fc>
  
 p243 "He brings in also the story of Kronos (Saturn), who swallowed his offspring, with the exception of Zeus (Jupiter), for whom Rhea substituted a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes.  This tough morsel, known in Latin writings as **Abadir**, was - needless to say - the Philosopher's Stone. <fc green>This stone is being shown spewed up by Saturn in Emblem XII </fc> p243 "He brings in also the story of Kronos (Saturn), who swallowed his offspring, with the exception of Zeus (Jupiter), for whom Rhea substituted a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes.  This tough morsel, known in Latin writings as **Abadir**, was - needless to say - the Philosopher's Stone. <fc green>This stone is being shown spewed up by Saturn in Emblem XII </fc>
  
-p244-245 "The Stone was often regarded by the alchemists as a 'child of fire', and Maier symbolises this idea in a plate entitled: 'As the Salamander lives by fire, so doth the Stone'. <fc green>Emblem 29 in [[aker:books_and_literature:atalanta_fugiens|Atalanta Fugiens]] </fc> According to the epigram, 'the Stone does not reject the fierce burning of the flames, for it was born in constant fire.  The Salamander, being cold, quenches the heat and comes forth free; but the Stone is hot, and therefore heat, being like it, agrees with it.'"+p244-245 "The Stone was often regarded by the alchemists as a 'child of fire', and Maier symbolises this idea in a plate entitled: 'As the Salamander lives by fire, so doth the Stone'. <fc green>Emblem 29 in [[books_and_literature:atalanta_fugiens|Atalanta Fugiens]] </fc> According to the epigram, 'the Stone does not reject the fierce burning of the flames, for it was born in constant fire.  The Salamander, being cold, quenches the heat and comes forth free; but the Stone is hot, and therefore heat, being like it, agrees with it.'"
  
 p245 "Be Nature thy guide, and do thou follow closely after her gladly; thou dost wander unless she herself is they travelling-companion.  Let Reason help thee like a staff, let Experiment strengthen thine eyes, to see that which is situate afar off.  Let Reading be the lamp shining in the darkness, that thou mayst foresee and avoid the heaps of facts and of words.<fc red><sup>35</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>35</sup></fc><sub>The accompanying emblem is closely reproduced in the bottom medallion of the title-page of the //[[#The Hermetic museum|Musaeum Hermeticum]]// (1625) - see plate 30. </sub> p245 "Be Nature thy guide, and do thou follow closely after her gladly; thou dost wander unless she herself is they travelling-companion.  Let Reason help thee like a staff, let Experiment strengthen thine eyes, to see that which is situate afar off.  Let Reading be the lamp shining in the darkness, that thou mayst foresee and avoid the heaps of facts and of words.<fc red><sup>35</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>35</sup></fc><sub>The accompanying emblem is closely reproduced in the bottom medallion of the title-page of the //[[#The Hermetic museum|Musaeum Hermeticum]]// (1625) - see plate 30. </sub>
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 p274 "Then will the crowned one bring forth thence the sceptre to all, even **Hermogenes** ; this will be the goal of the work.' ..."\\  <fc green>Of Hermogenes, check out 2 Timothy 1v15.  Mercury-born, at one time Paul's fellow-labourer in Asia Minor, who, however, afterwards abandoned him, along with one Phygellus, probably on account of the perils by which they were beset (2 Timothy 1:15). </fc> p274 "Then will the crowned one bring forth thence the sceptre to all, even **Hermogenes** ; this will be the goal of the work.' ..."\\  <fc green>Of Hermogenes, check out 2 Timothy 1v15.  Mercury-born, at one time Paul's fellow-labourer in Asia Minor, who, however, afterwards abandoned him, along with one Phygellus, probably on account of the perils by which they were beset (2 Timothy 1:15). </fc>
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  • Last modified: 2020/12/31 15:36
  • by janus