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| §15 "Nonetheless, it was impossible not to feel the clash of opposites, so they sought a way of life in which they would be what the Indians call //nirdvandva//, free of opposites." | §15 "Nonetheless, it was impossible not to feel the clash of opposites, so they sought a way of life in which they would be what the Indians call //nirdvandva//, free of opposites." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §41 "He took this being to be the "entelechy" of the Aristotle and the "inner Christ" of the apostle Paul, the "spiritual and substantial individuality engendered within the physical and phenomenal personality, and representing, therefore, the rebirth of the man on a plane transcending the material." | [[:death|Ω]] §41 "He took this being to be the "entelechy" of the Aristotle and the "inner Christ" of the apostle Paul, the "spiritual and substantial individuality engendered within the physical and phenomenal personality, and representing, therefore, the rebirth of the man on a plane transcending the material." |
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| §60 "On a low level the animus is an inferior Logos, a caricature of the differentiated masculine mind, just as on a low level the anima is a caricature of the feminine Eros." | §60 "On a low level the animus is an inferior Logos, a caricature of the differentiated masculine mind, just as on a low level the anima is a caricature of the feminine Eros." |
| §62 "I have defined the anima as a personification of the unconscious in general, and have taken it as a bridge to the unconscious, in other words, as a function of relationship to the unconscious." | §62 "I have defined the anima as a personification of the unconscious in general, and have taken it as a bridge to the unconscious, in other words, as a function of relationship to the unconscious." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §68 "Death is psychologically as important as birth, and, like it, is an integral part of life." | [[:death|Ω]] §68 "Death is psychologically as important as birth, and, like it, is an integral part of life." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §68 "As a doctor, I make every effort to strengthen the belief in immortality, especially with the older patients when such questions come threateningly close. For, seen in correct psychological perspective, death is not an end but a goal, and life's inclination towards death begins as soon as the meridian is passed." | [[:death|Ω]] §68 "As a doctor, I make every effort to strengthen the belief in immortality, especially with the older patients when such questions come threateningly close. For, seen in correct psychological perspective, death is not an end but a goal, and life's inclination towards death begins as soon as the meridian is passed." |
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| [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §71 "for all religions are therapies for the sorrows and disorders of the soul." | [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §71 "for all religions are therapies for the sorrows and disorders of the soul." |
| <fc green> //Just out of curiosity, notice that he does not say 'in which the ego is "contained"', as he said earlier at the end of §75 "As I see it, the psyche is a world in which the ego is contained." I may be splitting hairs here, but the subtle differences seem to me to leave just enough room for interpretation by the reader as the categorical definition is not there really, as it shouldn't be. The ego is included but not 'contained' in this last explanation, but included in as though it may too be of its own existence and invited to the party so to speak.// </fc> | <fc green> //Just out of curiosity, notice that he does not say 'in which the ego is "contained"', as he said earlier at the end of §75 "As I see it, the psyche is a world in which the ego is contained." I may be splitting hairs here, but the subtle differences seem to me to leave just enough room for interpretation by the reader as the categorical definition is not there really, as it shouldn't be. The ego is included but not 'contained' in this last explanation, but included in as though it may too be of its own existence and invited to the party so to speak.// </fc> |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §76, footnote 2 "To a primitive mind, there is nothing disturbing in this odd mixture of the physical and the spiritual, because life and death are by no means the complete opposites they are for us." | [[:death|Ω]] §76, footnote 2 "To a primitive mind, there is nothing disturbing in this odd mixture of the physical and the spiritual, because life and death are by no means the complete opposites they are for us." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §76, footnote 2 "It is characteristic of Western man that he has split apart the physical and the spiritual for the epistemological purposes. But these opposites exist together in the psyche and psychology must recognise this fact. "Psychic" means physical //and// spiritual. The ideas in our text all deal with this "intermediate" world which seems unclear and confused because the concept of psychic reality is not yet current among us, although it expresses life as it actually is." | [[:death|Ω]] §76, footnote 2 "It is characteristic of Western man that he has split apart the physical and the spiritual for the epistemological purposes. But these opposites exist together in the psyche and psychology must recognise this fact. "Psychic" means physical //and// spiritual. The ideas in our text all deal with this "intermediate" world which seems unclear and confused because the concept of psychic reality is not yet current among us, although it expresses life as it actually is." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] <fc green> //Jung is talking about metaphysical assertions here in the context of west meets east and the metaphysical language embraced and used by the east in their philosophy. That as a westerner, we are not adept to grasping the metaphysical without firstly understanding the psychological. Only then may the metaphysical concepts, ideas and 'realities' [my words] touch us and become known to us. I find this interesting though in that he relates physical and spiritual with life and death in the primitive mind. I enjoy this as life and death are not different to the psyche, to the unconscious.// </fc> | [[:death|Ω]] <fc green> //Jung is talking about metaphysical assertions here in the context of west meets east and the metaphysical language embraced and used by the east in their philosophy. That as a westerner, we are not adept to grasping the metaphysical without firstly understanding the psychological. Only then may the metaphysical concepts, ideas and 'realities' [my words] touch us and become known to us. I find this interesting though in that he relates physical and spiritual with life and death in the primitive mind. I enjoy this as life and death are not different to the psyche, to the unconscious.// </fc> |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §78 "This remarkable experience seems to me a consequence of detachment of consciousness, thanks to which the subjective "I live" becomes the objective "It lives me". This state is felt to be higher than the previous one; it is really like a sort of release from the compulsion and impossible responsibility that are the inevitable results of //participation mystique//." | [[:death|Ω]] §78 "This remarkable experience seems to me a consequence of detachment of consciousness, thanks to which the subjective "I live" becomes the objective "It lives me". This state is felt to be higher than the previous one; it is really like a sort of release from the compulsion and impossible responsibility that are the inevitable results of //participation mystique//." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] <fc green> //Jung is talking here of the release of consciousness in the context of a religious experience but to my mind no less valuable or viable rather when your 'church' is say something like extreme sports where a release of consciousness is possible - an ego death. It is handing over to the unconscious in a way, to the objectives of the Self. This is not possible for long periods of time though, in itself it is not possible at all. But, it is an alignment with the Self, a resonance with the objectives of your Self that bring about this imbued experience of conscious release to something more powerful.// </fc> | [[:death|Ω]] <fc green> //Jung is talking here of the release of consciousness in the context of a religious experience but to my mind no less valuable or viable rather when your 'church' is say something like extreme sports where a release of consciousness is possible - an ego death. It is handing over to the unconscious in a way, to the objectives of the Self. This is not possible for long periods of time though, in itself it is not possible at all. But, it is an alignment with the Self, a resonance with the objectives of your Self that bring about this imbued experience of conscious release to something more powerful.// </fc> |
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| [[#top|back to top]] | [[#top|back to top]] |
| §101 "As is clear from the context, the //rotundum// is identical with the //aqua permanens// " [cf para.89 above, and §87 (III,i,4)] | §101 "As is clear from the context, the //rotundum// is identical with the //aqua permanens// " [cf para.89 above, and §87 (III,i,4)] |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §104 "In the divine water, whose dyophysite nature is constantly emphasized, two principles balance one another, active and passive, masculine and feminine, //which constitute the essence of creative power in the eternal cycle of birth and death. This cycle was represented in ancient alchemy by the symbol of the uroboros//..." (italics mine) | [[:death|Ω]] §104 "In the divine water, whose dyophysite nature is constantly emphasized, two principles balance one another, active and passive, masculine and feminine, //which constitute the essence of creative power in the eternal cycle of birth and death. This cycle was represented in ancient alchemy by the symbol of the uroboros//..." (italics mine) |
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| §105 "In the divine water, whose dyophysite nature <Greek text here><fc red><sup>60</sup></fc> is constantly emphasised, two principles balance one another, active and passive, masculine and feminine, which constitute the essence of creative power in the eternal cycle of birth and death.<fc red><sup>61</sup></fc> This cycle was represented in ancient alchemy by the symbol of the uroboros, the dragon that bites its own tail.<fc red><sup>62</sup></fc> Self-devouring is the same as self-destruction,<fc red><sup>63</sup></fc> but the union of the dragon's tail and mouth was also thought of as self-fertilisation."\\ <fc red><sup>60</sup></fc> <sub>It shares this quality with Mercurius duplex.</sub> | §105 "In the divine water, whose dyophysite nature <Greek text here><fc red><sup>60</sup></fc> is constantly emphasised, two principles balance one another, active and passive, masculine and feminine, which constitute the essence of creative power in the eternal cycle of birth and death.<fc red><sup>61</sup></fc> This cycle was represented in ancient alchemy by the symbol of the uroboros, the dragon that bites its own tail.<fc red><sup>62</sup></fc> Self-devouring is the same as self-destruction,<fc red><sup>63</sup></fc> but the union of the dragon's tail and mouth was also thought of as self-fertilisation."\\ <fc red><sup>60</sup></fc> <sub>It shares this quality with Mercurius duplex.</sub> |
| §134 "Psychological research has shown that the historical or ethnological symbols are identical with those spontaneously produced by the unconscious, and that the lapis represents the idea of a transcendent totality which coincides with what analytical psychology calls the self." | §134 "Psychological research has shown that the historical or ethnological symbols are identical with those spontaneously produced by the unconscious, and that the lapis represents the idea of a transcendent totality which coincides with what analytical psychology calls the self." |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] §135 "Since the long sought water, as we have shown, represents a cycle of birth and death, every process that consists of death and rebirth is naturally a symbol of the divine water." | [[:death|Ω]] §135 "Since the long sought water, as we have shown, represents a cycle of birth and death, every process that consists of death and rebirth is naturally a symbol of the divine water." |
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| [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §139 "The drama shows how the divine process of change manifests itself to our human understanding and how man experiences it - as punishment, torment,<fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> death, and transfiguration."\\ <fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> <sub>....In medieval alchemy the torturing of the materia was an allegory of Christ's passion ...</sub> | [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §139 "The drama shows how the divine process of change manifests itself to our human understanding and how man experiences it - as punishment, torment,<fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> death, and transfiguration."\\ <fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> <sub>....In medieval alchemy the torturing of the materia was an allegory of Christ's passion ...</sub> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §140 "The mystical side of alchemy, as distinct from its historical aspect, is essentially a psychological problem. To all appearances, it is a concretisation, in projected and symbolic form, of the process of individuation." | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §140 "The mystical side of alchemy, as distinct from its historical aspect, is essentially a psychological problem. To all appearances, it is a concretisation, in projected and symbolic form, of the process of individuation." |
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| §141 "...from which it is clearly seen that knowledge of the light in man //must emerge in the first place// from within and cannot be placed there from without..."\\ <fc green>Italics mine</fc> | §141 "...from which it is clearly seen that knowledge of the light in man //must emerge in the first place// from within and cannot be placed there from without..."\\ <fc green>Italics mine</fc> |
| §156 <fc green>//Jung goes on here about Paracelsus being lost and a little naive in the arts of magic...worth a read, and not worth re-writing the whole paragraph.//</fc> | §156 <fc green>//Jung goes on here about Paracelsus being lost and a little naive in the arts of magic...worth a read, and not worth re-writing the whole paragraph.//</fc> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §157 "With the triumph of Christianity under Constantine the old pagan ideas did not vanish but lived on in the strange arcane terminology of philosophical alchemy. Its chief figure was Hermes or Mercurius, in his dual significance as quicksilver and the world soul, with his companion figures Sol (= gold) and Luna (= silver). The alchemical operation consisted essentially in separating the prima materia, the so-called chaos, into the active principle, the soul, and the passive principle, the body, which were then reunited in personified form in the //coniunctio// or "chymical marriage." In other words, the //coniunctio// was allegorised as the hierosgamos, the ritual cohabitation of Sol and Luna. From this union sprang the //filius sapientiae// or //filius philosophorum//, the transformed Mercurius, who was thought of as hermaphroditic in token of his rounded perfection. [Cf. fig. B2]"\\ <fc green> [[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=filius&la=la|filius]] = child of, a son, [[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=sapientiae&la=la|sapientiae]] = good taste, good sense, discernment, discretion, prudence, intelligence, forethought, sedes sapientiae = [[wp>throne of wisdom|throne of wisdom]]. //Philosophorum// = philosophy.\\ The image/figure Jung is cross referencing is shown below, it's on p153.</fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §157 "With the triumph of Christianity under Constantine the old pagan ideas did not vanish but lived on in the strange arcane terminology of philosophical alchemy. Its chief figure was Hermes or Mercurius, in his dual significance as quicksilver and the world soul, with his companion figures Sol (= gold) and Luna (= silver). The alchemical operation consisted essentially in separating the prima materia, the so-called chaos, into the active principle, the soul, and the passive principle, the body, which were then reunited in personified form in the //coniunctio// or "chymical marriage." In other words, the //coniunctio// was allegorised as the hierosgamos, the ritual cohabitation of Sol and Luna. From this union sprang the //filius sapientiae// or //filius philosophorum//, the transformed Mercurius, who was thought of as hermaphroditic in token of his rounded perfection. [Cf. fig. B2]"\\ <fc green> [[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=filius&la=la|filius]] = child of, a son, [[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=sapientiae&la=la|sapientiae]] = good taste, good sense, discernment, discretion, prudence, intelligence, forethought, sedes sapientiae = [[wp>throne of wisdom|throne of wisdom]]. //Philosophorum// = philosophy.\\ The image/figure Jung is cross referencing is shown below, it's on p153.</fc> |
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| {{:aker:collected_works:alchemierosarium.gif?240|}} | {{collected_works:alchemierosarium.gif?240|}} |
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| §158 "...the whole of his philosophy in so far as it is not Cabalistic. It is evident from his writings that he had a considerable knowledge of Hermitic literature.<fc red><sup>29</sup></fc>"\\ <fc green>Hermetic = of or relating to an ancient occult tradition encompassing alchemy, astrology, and theosophy.</fc> | §158 "...the whole of his philosophy in so far as it is not Cabalistic. It is evident from his writings that he had a considerable knowledge of Hermitic literature.<fc red><sup>29</sup></fc>"\\ <fc green>Hermetic = of or relating to an ancient occult tradition encompassing alchemy, astrology, and theosophy.</fc> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §158 "... the //Aurora consurgens// (a treatise falsely ascribed to St. Thomas Aquinas) on account of its "blasphemous character"..."\\ <fc green>I write this here as I think it interesting that, at least at the time of Jung writing this, he does not attribute the //Aurora Consurgens// to St. Thomas Aquinas. Whereas, in reading [[books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche|Transformation of the Psyche]] we find the authors agreeing with Marie Louise Von Franz that it was most likely an expulsion of unconscious content by Aquinas in his last days, perhaps when he was ill towards the end of his life and perhaps going a bit nuts.</fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §158 "... the //Aurora consurgens// (a treatise falsely ascribed to St. Thomas Aquinas) on account of its "blasphemous character"..."\\ <fc green>I write this here as I think it interesting that, at least at the time of Jung writing this, he does not attribute the //Aurora Consurgens// to St. Thomas Aquinas. Whereas, in reading [[books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche|Transformation of the Psyche]] we find the authors agreeing with Marie Louise Von Franz that it was most likely an expulsion of unconscious content by Aquinas in his last days, perhaps when he was ill towards the end of his life and perhaps going a bit nuts.</fc> |
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| ~~SEARCHPATTERN#'/(.*p149 \s*([^\n\r]+).*)/i'?? +aker:books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche _sprender $quote ??~~ | ~~SEARCHPATTERN#'/(.*p149 \s*([^\n\r]+).*)/i'?? +aker:books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche _sprender $quote ??~~ |
| §168 "For Paracelsus the Primordial Man (Adam Kadmon) was identical with the "astral" man: "The true man is the star in us.".<fc red><sup>55</sup></fc>""\\ <fc green>Parenthesis mine</fc> | §168 "For Paracelsus the Primordial Man (Adam Kadmon) was identical with the "astral" man: "The true man is the star in us.".<fc red><sup>55</sup></fc>""\\ <fc green>Parenthesis mine</fc> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §171 "The idea that the art can make something higher than nature is typically alchemical." | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §171 "The idea that the art can make something higher than nature is typically alchemical." |
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| §173 "Paracelsus does not fail to point out to his reader that this fire is not the same as the fire in the furnace. This fire, he says, contains nothing more of the "Salamandrine Essence or Melusinian Ares," but is rather a "//retorta distillatio// from the midst of the centre, beyond all coal fire." Since Melusina is a watery creature, the "Melusinian Ares" refers to the so-called "Aquaster." which stands for the watery aspect of the Iliaster, i.e., the Iliaster which animates and preserves the liquids in the body."\\ <fc green>The [[wp>Splendor Solis|Splendor Solis]], and the image above from the Rosarium. cRef §179pp. Its worth noting too that Hera gave the Sirens wings to find Persephone. Ares is the god of war (= Mars). The Salamander symbolises the fire of the alchemists (cRef §177 below), it was said to live in fire. The Salamander is also the "incombustible sulphur" - another name for the arcane substance from which the lapis or //filius// is produced. Read further in §178.</fc> | §173 "Paracelsus does not fail to point out to his reader that this fire is not the same as the fire in the furnace. This fire, he says, contains nothing more of the "Salamandrine Essence or Melusinian Ares," but is rather a "//retorta distillatio// from the midst of the centre, beyond all coal fire." Since Melusina is a watery creature, the "Melusinian Ares" refers to the so-called "Aquaster." which stands for the watery aspect of the Iliaster, i.e., the Iliaster which animates and preserves the liquids in the body."\\ <fc green>The [[wp>Splendor Solis|Splendor Solis]], and the image above from the Rosarium. cRef §179pp. Its worth noting too that Hera gave the Sirens wings to find Persephone. Ares is the god of war (= Mars). The Salamander symbolises the fire of the alchemists (cRef §177 below), it was said to live in fire. The Salamander is also the "incombustible sulphur" - another name for the arcane substance from which the lapis or //filius// is produced. Read further in §178.</fc> |
| §177 "The salamander symbolises the fire of the alchemists. ...The salamander is also the "incombustible sulphur" - another name for the arcane substance from which the lapis of //filius// is produced. The fire for heating the artifex contains nothing more of the nature of the salamander, which is an immature, transitional form of the //filius//, that incorruptible being whose symbols indicate the self." | §177 "The salamander symbolises the fire of the alchemists. ...The salamander is also the "incombustible sulphur" - another name for the arcane substance from which the lapis of //filius// is produced. The fire for heating the artifex contains nothing more of the nature of the salamander, which is an immature, transitional form of the //filius//, that incorruptible being whose symbols indicate the self." |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §178 "It is characteristic of Paracelsan thinking, and of alchemy in general, that there are no clear-cut concepts, so that one concept can take the place of another //ad infinitum//." | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §178 "It is characteristic of Paracelsan thinking, and of alchemy in general, that there are no clear-cut concepts, so that one concept can take the place of another //ad infinitum//." |
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| <fc green>The [[wp>Basilisk|Basilisk]] is very interesting. The king of snakes said to be able to kill with its stair as well as its venom. It is sometimes depicted with crown, it is said to have had a crown shaped crest or mitre on its head. Agrippa wrote that the basilisk "is always, and cannot but be a male, as the more proper receptacle of venome and destructive qualities."</fc> | <fc green>The [[wp>Basilisk|Basilisk]] is very interesting. The king of snakes said to be able to kill with its stair as well as its venom. It is sometimes depicted with crown, it is said to have had a crown shaped crest or mitre on its head. Agrippa wrote that the basilisk "is always, and cannot but be a male, as the more proper receptacle of venome and destructive qualities."</fc> |
| §180 "For anyone familiar with the subliminal processes of psychic transformation, Melusina is clearly an anima figure. She appears as a variant of the mercurial serpent, which was sometimes represented in the form of a snake-woman by way of expressing the monstrous, double nature of Mercurius. The redemption of this monstrosity was depicted as the assumption and coronation of the Virgin Mary." | §180 "For anyone familiar with the subliminal processes of psychic transformation, Melusina is clearly an anima figure. She appears as a variant of the mercurial serpent, which was sometimes represented in the form of a snake-woman by way of expressing the monstrous, double nature of Mercurius. The redemption of this monstrosity was depicted as the assumption and coronation of the Virgin Mary." |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §183 "And of the worthless prima materia they [the alchemists] say: "Despise not the ash, for it is the diadem of they heart, and the ash of things that endure.""\\ <fc green>Square brackets mine</fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §183 "And of the worthless prima materia they [the alchemists] say: "Despise not the ash, for it is the diadem of they heart, and the ash of things that endure.""\\ <fc green>Square brackets mine</fc> |
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| <fc green>The //filius regius// = Kings Son, or //Rex marinus// seems to me to be very important and linked to the Melusina, who is a variant of the mercurial serpent, also the Arcane Substance, see §177 pp. above."</fc> | <fc green>The //filius regius// = Kings Son, or //Rex marinus// seems to me to be very important and linked to the Melusina, who is a variant of the mercurial serpent, also the Arcane Substance, see §177 pp. above."</fc> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §187 "When this is purified by the fire in the sun,<fc red><sup>77</sup></fc> the pure water<fc red><sup>78</sup></fc> comes forth, and, having returned to simplicity,<fc red><sup>79</sup></fc> it [the quaternity as unity] will show the adept the fulfilment of the mysteries."\\ <fc red><sup>77</sup></fc> <sub>The sun is the birthplace of the "spiritual fire," mentioned above. Light symbols always refer psychologically to consciousness or to a content that is becoming conscious.</sub>\\ <fc red><sup>78</sup></fc> <sub>The //aqua pura// is the //aqua permanens// of the Latin and Arabic alchemists and the <greek test here> of the Greeks. It is the //spiritus mercurialis// in water form, which in turn serves to extract the "soul" of the substance. The //spiritus mercurialis// corresponds to the spiritual fire, hence //aqua// = //ignis//. **Although these terms are used indiscriminately, they are not the same, since fire is active, spiritual, emotional, close to consciousness, whereas water is passive, material, cool, and of the nature of the unconscious. Both are necessary to the alchemical process since this is concerned with the union of opposites.** Cf. //[[collected_works:cw12|Psychology and Alchemy]]//, Fig. 4.</sub> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §187 "When this is purified by the fire in the sun,<fc red><sup>77</sup></fc> the pure water<fc red><sup>78</sup></fc> comes forth, and, having returned to simplicity,<fc red><sup>79</sup></fc> it [the quaternity as unity] will show the adept the fulfilment of the mysteries."\\ <fc red><sup>77</sup></fc> <sub>The sun is the birthplace of the "spiritual fire," mentioned above. Light symbols always refer psychologically to consciousness or to a content that is becoming conscious.</sub>\\ <fc red><sup>78</sup></fc> <sub>The //aqua pura// is the //aqua permanens// of the Latin and Arabic alchemists and the <greek test here> of the Greeks. It is the //spiritus mercurialis// in water form, which in turn serves to extract the "soul" of the substance. The //spiritus mercurialis// corresponds to the spiritual fire, hence //aqua// = //ignis//. **Although these terms are used indiscriminately, they are not the same, since fire is active, spiritual, emotional, close to consciousness, whereas water is passive, material, cool, and of the nature of the unconscious. Both are necessary to the alchemical process since this is concerned with the union of opposites.** Cf. //[[collected_works:cw12|Psychology and Alchemy]]//, Fig. 4.</sub> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §187 "In these relations between four, three, two, and one is found, says Dorn, the "culmination of all knowledge and of the mystic art, and the infallible midpoint of the centre (//infallibile medii centrum//)."<fc red><sup>80</sup></fc> The One is the midpoint of the circle, the centre of the triad, and it is also the "novenary foetus" (//foetus novenarius//), i.e., it is as the number nine to the ogdoad, or as the quintessence to the quaternity.<fc red><sup>81</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>81</sup></fc> <sub>Dorn, "Duellum animi cum corpore," //Theatr. chem.//, I (1659), p. 482. This number symbolism refers to the axiom of Maria: "One becomes Two, Two becomes Three, and out of the Third comes One as the Fourth" (Berthelot, //Alch. grecs//, VI, v, 6). This axiom runs through the whole of alchemy, and is not unconnected with the Christian speculations regarding the Trinity. Cf. my "Psychology and Religion," p. 60, and "A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity, " pp. 164ff.</sub>\\ <fc green> [[wp>Theatrum Chemicum|Theatrum Chemicum]] (= //Theatr. chem.// ). </fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §187 "In these relations between four, three, two, and one is found, says Dorn, the "culmination of all knowledge and of the mystic art, and the infallible midpoint of the centre (//infallibile medii centrum//)."<fc red><sup>80</sup></fc> The One is the midpoint of the circle, the centre of the triad, and it is also the "novenary foetus" (//foetus novenarius//), i.e., it is as the number nine to the ogdoad, or as the quintessence to the quaternity.<fc red><sup>81</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>81</sup></fc> <sub>Dorn, "Duellum animi cum corpore," //Theatr. chem.//, I (1659), p. 482. This number symbolism refers to the axiom of Maria: "One becomes Two, Two becomes Three, and out of the Third comes One as the Fourth" (Berthelot, //Alch. grecs//, VI, v, 6). This axiom runs through the whole of alchemy, and is not unconnected with the Christian speculations regarding the Trinity. Cf. my "Psychology and Religion," p. 60, and "A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity, " pp. 164ff.</sub>\\ <fc green> [[wp>Theatrum Chemicum|Theatrum Chemicum]] (= //Theatr. chem.// ). </fc> |
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| [[malefic:paper1|Λ]] §195 "And as a matter of fact he was right, for the human soul is not something cut off from nature. It is a natural phenomenon like any other, and its problems are just as important as the questions and riddles which are presented by the diseases of the body. Moreover there is scarcely a disease of the body in which psychic factors do not play a part, just as physical ones have to be considered in many psychogenic disturbances." | [[malefic:paper1|Λ]] §195 "And as a matter of fact he was right, for the human soul is not something cut off from nature. It is a natural phenomenon like any other, and its problems are just as important as the questions and riddles which are presented by the diseases of the body. Moreover there is scarcely a disease of the body in which psychic factors do not play a part, just as physical ones have to be considered in many psychogenic disturbances." |
| §197 "The light from above made the darkness still darker' but the //lumen naturae// is the light of the darkness itself, which illuminates its own darkness, and this light the darkness comprehends." | §197 "The light from above made the darkness still darker' but the //lumen naturae// is the light of the darkness itself, which illuminates its own darkness, and this light the darkness comprehends." |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §198 "Not separation of the natures but union of the natures was the goal of alchemy."\\ <fc green>This is in the context of Nature, and the //lumen naturae//. The rest of the paragraph is a good read on the nature of Nature, and Nature worship in some way.</fc>\\ ..."It strives not for isolation but for union, for the wedding feast followed by death and rebirth."<fc green>...I like that, it continues...</fc>"Paracelsus's "exaltation in May" is this marriage, the "gamonymus" or hierosgamos of light and darkness in the shape of Sol and Luna. Here the opposites unite what the light from above had sternly divided."\\ <fc green>gamo- [ Gr. gamos, marriage ]\\ heiro- [ Gr. hieros, holy ]</fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §198 "Not separation of the natures but union of the natures was the goal of alchemy."\\ <fc green>This is in the context of Nature, and the //lumen naturae//. The rest of the paragraph is a good read on the nature of Nature, and Nature worship in some way.</fc>\\ ..."It strives not for isolation but for union, for the wedding feast followed by death and rebirth."<fc green>...I like that, it continues...</fc>"Paracelsus's "exaltation in May" is this marriage, the "gamonymus" or hierosgamos of light and darkness in the shape of Sol and Luna. Here the opposites unite what the light from above had sternly divided."\\ <fc green>gamo- [ Gr. gamos, marriage ]\\ heiro- [ Gr. hieros, holy ]</fc> |
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| §199 "Here only the symbol helps, for, in accordance with its paradoxical nature, it represents the "tertium" that in logic does not exist, but which in reality is the living truth." | §199 "Here only the symbol helps, for, in accordance with its paradoxical nature, it represents the "tertium" that in logic does not exist, but which in reality is the living truth." |
| [[malefic:paper1|Λ]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §210 "I do not know how many or how few people today can imagine what "coming to terms with the unconscious" means. ....It is on the one hand an endeavour to understand the archetypal world of the psyche, on the other hand a struggle against the sanit-threatening danger of fascination by the measureless heights and depths and paradoxes of psychic truth. The denser, concretistic, daytime mind here reaches its limits; for the "Cedurini" (Paracelsus), the "men of crasser temperament" (Dorn), there is no way into "the untrodden, the untreadable regions" - "and in this place," says Paracelsus, "the Aquaster does not break in" (the damp soul that is akin to matter). Here the human mind is confronted with its origins, the archetypes; the finite consciousness with its archaic foundations; the mortal ego with the immortal self, Anthropos, purusha, atman, or whatever else be the names that human speculation has given to that collective preconscious state from which the individual ego arose."\\ <fc green>See §175 for the Aquaster; " //the Aquaster comes closest to the modern concept of the unconscious// ." So here we see that the Aquaster = unconscious does not break or cave in to the 'crasser temperament' or concretistic mind.</fc>\\ ..."The more it is bound by time and space, the more it will feel the other as "that difficult Adech" who crosses its purpose at every misguided step, who gives fate an unexpected twist, and sets it as a task the very thing it feared. ...Moreover, the secret doctrine of the Anthropos was dangerous because it had nothing to do with the teachings of the Church, since from that point of view Christ was a reflection - and only a reflection - of the inner Anthropos."\\ <fc green>Adech = Adam, Anthropos. cRef. §209, footnote 26. I wonder if this duality: immortal, and mortal nature (see end of §208) could be related to the 'dyophysite nature of Jesus' discussion. Also, in reading these last 3 paragraphs we can understand the contradiction of 'the other' perhaps appearing mortal in nature, where the more we bind it by time and space as Jung say, it becomes an annoying (" //that difficult Adech// ") other, but is the unconscious not bound by time and space. See §208</fc> | [[malefic:paper1|Λ]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §210 "I do not know how many or how few people today can imagine what "coming to terms with the unconscious" means. ....It is on the one hand an endeavour to understand the archetypal world of the psyche, on the other hand a struggle against the sanit-threatening danger of fascination by the measureless heights and depths and paradoxes of psychic truth. The denser, concretistic, daytime mind here reaches its limits; for the "Cedurini" (Paracelsus), the "men of crasser temperament" (Dorn), there is no way into "the untrodden, the untreadable regions" - "and in this place," says Paracelsus, "the Aquaster does not break in" (the damp soul that is akin to matter). Here the human mind is confronted with its origins, the archetypes; the finite consciousness with its archaic foundations; the mortal ego with the immortal self, Anthropos, purusha, atman, or whatever else be the names that human speculation has given to that collective preconscious state from which the individual ego arose."\\ <fc green>See §175 for the Aquaster; " //the Aquaster comes closest to the modern concept of the unconscious// ." So here we see that the Aquaster = unconscious does not break or cave in to the 'crasser temperament' or concretistic mind.</fc>\\ ..."The more it is bound by time and space, the more it will feel the other as "that difficult Adech" who crosses its purpose at every misguided step, who gives fate an unexpected twist, and sets it as a task the very thing it feared. ...Moreover, the secret doctrine of the Anthropos was dangerous because it had nothing to do with the teachings of the Church, since from that point of view Christ was a reflection - and only a reflection - of the inner Anthropos."\\ <fc green>Adech = Adam, Anthropos. cRef. §209, footnote 26. I wonder if this duality: immortal, and mortal nature (see end of §208) could be related to the 'dyophysite nature of Jesus' discussion. Also, in reading these last 3 paragraphs we can understand the contradiction of 'the other' perhaps appearing mortal in nature, where the more we bind it by time and space as Jung say, it becomes an annoying (" //that difficult Adech// ") other, but is the unconscious not bound by time and space. See §208</fc> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §212 "...the alchemical opus, which always remains the same as a general procedure though its goal may vary: sometimes it is the production of gold (//chrysopoea//), sometimes the elixir, sometimes the //aurum potabile// or, finally, the mysterious //filius unicus//. Also, the artifex can have a selfish or an idealistic attitude towards the work."\\ <fc green>If the procedure is the same, I wonder if the procedures and rituals would still work if undertaken in this day and age, not dissimilar to the church rituals. I've always thought the rituals were there for the good reason of teaching the discipline and thought. After that, for the work to go deeper, people must look inside. But its important to have the ritual because if there was nothing there people could say, "I'll just do the work in my head", but I don't think we can do that all the time, we need something to be structuring us, procedure'ing us...so to speak, even if its just the learning, or praying...setting time aside.</fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §212 "...the alchemical opus, which always remains the same as a general procedure though its goal may vary: sometimes it is the production of gold (//chrysopoea//), sometimes the elixir, sometimes the //aurum potabile// or, finally, the mysterious //filius unicus//. Also, the artifex can have a selfish or an idealistic attitude towards the work."\\ <fc green>If the procedure is the same, I wonder if the procedures and rituals would still work if undertaken in this day and age, not dissimilar to the church rituals. I've always thought the rituals were there for the good reason of teaching the discipline and thought. After that, for the work to go deeper, people must look inside. But its important to have the ritual because if there was nothing there people could say, "I'll just do the work in my head", but I don't think we can do that all the time, we need something to be structuring us, procedure'ing us...so to speak, even if its just the learning, or praying...setting time aside.</fc> |
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| <fc green>§223-224 about the union of conscious and unconscious as a result of an encounter with the Melusina.</fc> | <fc green>§223-224 about the union of conscious and unconscious as a result of an encounter with the Melusina.</fc> |
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| [[aker:Death|Ω]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §225 "Melusina, being a water-nixie, is closely connected with Morgana, the "sea-born," whose classical counterpart is Aphrodite, the "foam-born." Union with the feminine personification of the unconscious is, as we have seen, well-nigh eschatological experience, a reflection of which is to be found in the Apocalyptic Marriage of the Lamb, the Christian form of the hierosgamos. The passage runs (Revelation 19:6-10) ..." | [[:death|Ω]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §225 "Melusina, being a water-nixie, is closely connected with Morgana, the "sea-born," whose classical counterpart is Aphrodite, the "foam-born." Union with the feminine personification of the unconscious is, as we have seen, well-nigh eschatological experience, a reflection of which is to be found in the Apocalyptic Marriage of the Lamb, the Christian form of the hierosgamos. The passage runs (Revelation 19:6-10) ..." |
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| §226 "The is the specific definition of this experience of the coniunctio: the self which includes me includes many others also, for the unconscious that is "conceived in our mind" does not belong to me and is not peculiar to me, but is everywhere. It is the quintessence of the individual and at the same time the collective." | §226 "The is the specific definition of this experience of the coniunctio: the self which includes me includes many others also, for the unconscious that is "conceived in our mind" does not belong to me and is not peculiar to me, but is everywhere. It is the quintessence of the individual and at the same time the collective." |
| <fc green>cRef. §232, the alchemists "less by word than by deed" replaced the "sacrament" of th echurch for that of the //opus alchymicum// ...without, in their mind for the most part, any conflict with orthodox Christian standing.</fc> | <fc green>cRef. §232, the alchemists "less by word than by deed" replaced the "sacrament" of th echurch for that of the //opus alchymicum// ...without, in their mind for the most part, any conflict with orthodox Christian standing.</fc> |
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| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §231 "But one should not imagine Paracelsus or any other alchemist settling down to invent an arcane terminology that would make the new doctrine a kind of private code. <fc green>{Alchemy}</fc> Such and undertaking would presuppose the existence of definite views and clearly defined concepts. **But there is no question of that: non of the alchemists ever had any clear idea of what his philosophy was really about.**" | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §231 "But one should not imagine Paracelsus or any other alchemist settling down to invent an arcane terminology that would make the new doctrine a kind of private code. <fc green>{Alchemy}</fc> Such and undertaking would presuppose the existence of definite views and clearly defined concepts. **But there is no question of that: non of the alchemists ever had any clear idea of what his philosophy was really about.**" |
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| <fc green>§231 is pretty good for understanding the approach to alchemy and the many 'varieties'.</fc> | <fc green>§231 is pretty good for understanding the approach to alchemy and the many 'varieties'.</fc> |
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| <fc green>The importance of Alchemy</fc>\\ | <fc green>The importance of Alchemy</fc>\\ |
| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §237 "I had long been aware that alchemy is not only the mother of chemistry, but is also the forerunner of our modern psychology of the unconscious. Thus Paracelsus appears as a pioneer not only of chemical medicine but of empirical psychology and psychotherapy." | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §237 "I had long been aware that alchemy is not only the mother of chemistry, but is also the forerunner of our modern psychology of the unconscious. Thus Paracelsus appears as a pioneer not only of chemical medicine but of empirical psychology and psychotherapy." |
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| == 2. The connection between spirit and tree == | == 2. The connection between spirit and tree == |
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| §247 "In psychological terms, this means that the evil spirit is imprisoned in the roots of the self, <fc green>(At the base of the oak tree)</fc> as the secret hidden in the principle <fc green>(The tree being the principle)</fc> of individuation. ...The tree of paradise serves as a prototype for this and similar tales: it, too, is not identical with the voice of the serpent <fc green>(the voice of Mercurius here)</fc> which issued from it.<fc red>1</fc>\\ <fc red>1</fc><sub>Mercurius, in the form of Lilith or Melusina, appears in the tree in the [[books_and_literature:ripley_scrowle|Ripley Scrowle]]. To this context belongs also the hamadryad as an interpretation of the so-called "Aenigma Bononiensis." Cf. [[aker:collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]] pp.68f.</sub> | §247 "In psychological terms, this means that the evil spirit is imprisoned in the roots of the self, <fc green>(At the base of the oak tree)</fc> as the secret hidden in the principle <fc green>(The tree being the principle)</fc> of individuation. ...The tree of paradise serves as a prototype for this and similar tales: it, too, is not identical with the voice of the serpent <fc green>(the voice of Mercurius here)</fc> which issued from it.<fc red>1</fc>\\ <fc red>1</fc><sub>Mercurius, in the form of Lilith or Melusina, appears in the tree in the [[books_and_literature:ripley_scrowle|Ripley Scrowle]]. To this context belongs also the hamadryad as an interpretation of the so-called "Aenigma Bononiensis." Cf. [[collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]] pp.68f.</sub> |
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| §249 "The crucial point is that so long as the evil spirit can not be proved to be a subjective psychic experience, then even trees and other suitable objects would have, once again, to be seriously considered as its lodging places." <fc green>This is said in reference to the different levels of consciousness discussed in the preceding para. A subjective recognition is at the 'fifth level' of consciousness as Jung is describing it here - cF. here with [[collected_works:cw8|On the Nature of the Psyche]] . This is a very interesting point really thrown in at the end of this section. It is important that Jung is presuming here a level of consciousness that accepts psychic reality.</fc> | §249 "The crucial point is that so long as the evil spirit can not be proved to be a subjective psychic experience, then even trees and other suitable objects would have, once again, to be seriously considered as its lodging places." <fc green>This is said in reference to the different levels of consciousness discussed in the preceding para. A subjective recognition is at the 'fifth level' of consciousness as Jung is describing it here - cF. here with [[collected_works:cw8|On the Nature of the Psyche]] . This is a very interesting point really thrown in at the end of this section. It is important that Jung is presuming here a level of consciousness that accepts psychic reality.</fc> |
| == 3. Mercurius as fire == | == 3. Mercurius as fire == |
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| §256 "He is, in fact, as another text says, "the universal and scintillating fire of the light of nature, which carries the heavenly spirit within it."<fc red><sup>9</sup></fc> This passage is particularly important as it relates Mercurius to the //lumen naturae// , the source of mystical knowledge second only to the holy revelation of the Scriptures."\\ <fc red><sup>9</sup></fc> <sub> //[[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Museum Hermeticum]]// "Aquarium Sapientum" p.84 <fc green>(this is p84 in the Latin copy. It is {{:aker:books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_vol_i.pdf|p77}} in this english copies)</fc> </sub>\\ <fc green>This reference by Jung is not accurate. The text - according to the english copy I have - is talking of the philosophers stone, not mercury per se. This is important therefore, particularly when Jung makes reference to the //lumen naturae// . Perhaps there are other references to mercury related to the //lumen naturae// , but this is not it.\\ Update: cf. §267 below, where an alchemical text clearly relates Mercurius to the 'light of nature'.</fc> | §256 "He is, in fact, as another text says, "the universal and scintillating fire of the light of nature, which carries the heavenly spirit within it."<fc red><sup>9</sup></fc> This passage is particularly important as it relates Mercurius to the //lumen naturae// , the source of mystical knowledge second only to the holy revelation of the Scriptures."\\ <fc red><sup>9</sup></fc> <sub> //[[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Museum Hermeticum]]// "Aquarium Sapientum" p.84 <fc green>(this is p84 in the Latin copy. It is {{books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_vol_i.pdf|p77}} in this english copies)</fc> </sub>\\ <fc green>This reference by Jung is not accurate. The text - according to the english copy I have - is talking of the philosophers stone, not mercury per se. This is important therefore, particularly when Jung makes reference to the //lumen naturae// . Perhaps there are other references to mercury related to the //lumen naturae// , but this is not it.\\ Update: cf. §267 below, where an alchemical text clearly relates Mercurius to the 'light of nature'.</fc> |
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| §257 "The mercurial fire is found in the "center of the earth," or dragon's belly, in fluid form." | §257 "The mercurial fire is found in the "center of the earth," or dragon's belly, in fluid form." |
| <fc red><sup>16</sup></fc><sub> //Theatr. Chem.// , IV (1659), pp. 501ff.</sub>\\ <fc green>Here clearly Mercurius is coupled with the light of nature, the //Lumen Naturae// . cf. §256 above. </fc> | <fc red><sup>16</sup></fc><sub> //Theatr. Chem.// , IV (1659), pp. 501ff.</sub>\\ <fc green>Here clearly Mercurius is coupled with the light of nature, the //Lumen Naturae// . cf. §256 above. </fc> |
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| §268 "...where are also the four elements and the //quinta essentia// <fc green>(quintessence, the fifth element)</fc> which they call Heaven."\\ "...he is the "man rising from the river,"<fc red><sup>31</sup></fc> probably a reference to the vision of Ezra.<fc red><sup>32</sup></fc> In Trismosin's //[[books_and_literature:the_splendor_solis|Splendor Solis]]// <fc green>(cf. [[books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche#plate_i-8_the_ethiopian|Transformation of the Psyche]])</fc> (sixteenth century) there is an illustration of this."<fc red><sup>33</sup></fc> ... "The terms Adam and microcosm <fc green>(in reference to Mercurius)</fc> occur frequently in the texts,<fc red><sup>35</sup></fc> but the Abraham le Juif forgery unblushingly call Mercurius Adam Kadmon.<fc red><sup>36</sup></fc> As I have discussed this unmistakable continuation of the Gnostic doctrine of the Anthropos elsewhere,<fc red><sup>37</sup></fc> there is no need for me to go more closely now into this aspect of Mercurius.<fc red><sup>38</sup></fc> Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize once again that the Anthropos idea coincides with the psychological concept of the self. The atman and purusha doctrine as well as alchemy give clear proofs of this."\\ <fc red><sup>33</sup></fc><sub>In //Aureum vellus// (1598), Tract 3: //Splendor Solis// (1920 facsimile). p23, //[[books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche#plate_i-8_the_ethiopian|Pl.VIII]]// </sub>\\ <fc red><sup>36</sup></fc><sub>Eleazar, //Uraltes Chymisches Werck// , p.51. Adam Kadmon is the Primordial Man; cf //[[aker:collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// , ch. V.</sub>\\ <fc red><sup>37</sup></fc><sub>"Paraclesus as a Spiritual Phenomenon," supra, §165ff., and //[[collected_works:cw12|Psychology and Alchemy]]// , index, s.v.</sub> | §268 "...where are also the four elements and the //quinta essentia// <fc green>(quintessence, the fifth element)</fc> which they call Heaven."\\ "...he is the "man rising from the river,"<fc red><sup>31</sup></fc> probably a reference to the vision of Ezra.<fc red><sup>32</sup></fc> In Trismosin's //[[books_and_literature:the_splendor_solis|Splendor Solis]]// <fc green>(cf. [[books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche#plate_i-8_the_ethiopian|Transformation of the Psyche]])</fc> (sixteenth century) there is an illustration of this."<fc red><sup>33</sup></fc> ... "The terms Adam and microcosm <fc green>(in reference to Mercurius)</fc> occur frequently in the texts,<fc red><sup>35</sup></fc> but the Abraham le Juif forgery unblushingly call Mercurius Adam Kadmon.<fc red><sup>36</sup></fc> As I have discussed this unmistakable continuation of the Gnostic doctrine of the Anthropos elsewhere,<fc red><sup>37</sup></fc> there is no need for me to go more closely now into this aspect of Mercurius.<fc red><sup>38</sup></fc> Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize once again that the Anthropos idea coincides with the psychological concept of the self. The atman and purusha doctrine as well as alchemy give clear proofs of this."\\ <fc red><sup>33</sup></fc><sub>In //Aureum vellus// (1598), Tract 3: //Splendor Solis// (1920 facsimile). p23, //[[books_and_literature:transformation_of_the_psyche#plate_i-8_the_ethiopian|Pl.VIII]]// </sub>\\ <fc red><sup>36</sup></fc><sub>Eleazar, //Uraltes Chymisches Werck// , p.51. Adam Kadmon is the Primordial Man; cf //[[collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// , ch. V.</sub>\\ <fc red><sup>37</sup></fc><sub>"Paraclesus as a Spiritual Phenomenon," supra, §165ff., and //[[collected_works:cw12|Psychology and Alchemy]]// , index, s.v.</sub> |
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| <fc green>The Typhon (three in one)</fc>\\ | <fc green>The Typhon (three in one)</fc>\\ |
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| {{:aker:collected_works:typhon01.jpg?416|}} | {{collected_works:typhon01.jpg?416|}} |
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| [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §271 "From all this one must conclude that Mercurius corresponds not only to Christ, but to the triune divinity in general. The "Aurelia Occulta" calls him " [[wp>azoth|Azoth]] ..."\\ | [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §271 "From all this one must conclude that Mercurius corresponds not only to Christ, but to the triune divinity in general. The "Aurelia Occulta" calls him " [[wp>azoth|Azoth]] ..."\\ |
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| <fc green>Jung on **Alechemy** ... this is very helpful. This whole paragraph actually is very helpful as a view on where Jung is coming from and how he sees Alchemy.</fc>\\ | <fc green>Jung on **Alechemy** ... this is very helpful. This whole paragraph actually is very helpful as a view on where Jung is coming from and how he sees Alchemy.</fc>\\ |
| [[aker:Alchemy|Δ]] §286 "...the alchemical projections represent collective contents that stand in painful contrast - or rather, in compensatory relation - to our highest rational convictions and values. they give the strange answers of the natural psyche to the ultimate questions which reason has left untouched. Let us, however, not delude ourselves: no more than we can separate the constituents of character from the astronomical determinants of time are we able to separate that unruly and evasivev Mercurius from the autonomy of **matter** . Something of the projection-carrier always clings to the projection ... In these projections we encounter the phenomenology of an "objective" spirit, a true matrix of psychic experience, the most appropriate symbol for which is **matter** . Nowhere and never has man controlled matter without closely observing its behaviour and paying heed to its laws, ...The same is true of that objective spirit which today we call the unconscious: ... If a man puts his hand to the opus, he repeats, as the alchemists say, God's work of creation. The struggle with the unformed, with the chaos of Tiamat, is in truth a primordial experience."\\ <fc green>Emphasis mine.\\ [[wp>Tiamat|Tiamat]] = Chaos monster involved in creation.\\ I find this paragraph very interesting and the ideas of //matter// in relation to the projections of Alchemy. Jung is not wrong in the creation element of the opus, and how that must have resonated with the unconscious, the creator and created aspects. The creation myths able to bear out in a way with the working of matter = alchemy. This is a very interesting perspective on the alchemical desire, and how rich then must have been the potential for projections.</fc> | [[:alchemy|Δ]] §286 "...the alchemical projections represent collective contents that stand in painful contrast - or rather, in compensatory relation - to our highest rational convictions and values. they give the strange answers of the natural psyche to the ultimate questions which reason has left untouched. Let us, however, not delude ourselves: no more than we can separate the constituents of character from the astronomical determinants of time are we able to separate that unruly and evasivev Mercurius from the autonomy of **matter** . Something of the projection-carrier always clings to the projection ... In these projections we encounter the phenomenology of an "objective" spirit, a true matrix of psychic experience, the most appropriate symbol for which is **matter** . Nowhere and never has man controlled matter without closely observing its behaviour and paying heed to its laws, ...The same is true of that objective spirit which today we call the unconscious: ... If a man puts his hand to the opus, he repeats, as the alchemists say, God's work of creation. The struggle with the unformed, with the chaos of Tiamat, is in truth a primordial experience."\\ <fc green>Emphasis mine.\\ [[wp>Tiamat|Tiamat]] = Chaos monster involved in creation.\\ I find this paragraph very interesting and the ideas of //matter// in relation to the projections of Alchemy. Jung is not wrong in the creation element of the opus, and how that must have resonated with the unconscious, the creator and created aspects. The creation myths able to bear out in a way with the working of matter = alchemy. This is a very interesting perspective on the alchemical desire, and how rich then must have been the potential for projections.</fc> |
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| §287 ""Rosinus ad Sarratantam" cites a saying of "Malus Philosophus"<fc red><sup>3</sup></fc> which attempts to formulate the psychological relation of the lapis to consciousness:\\ "This stone is below thee, as to obedience; \\ above thee, as to dominion;\\ therefore from thee, as to knowledge;\\ about thee, as to equals."<fc red><sup>4</sup></fc>\\ Applied to the self, this would mean: "The self is subordinate to you, yet on the other hand rules you. It is dependent on your own efforts and your knowledge, but transcends you and embraces all those who are of like mind. This refers to the collective nature of the self, since the self epitomizes the wholeness of the personality. By definition, wholeness includes the collective unconscious, which as experience seems to show is everywhere identical."\\ <fc green>I have no idea what this last bit means, '...since the self epitomizes the wholeness of the personality.' ??? </fc> | §287 ""Rosinus ad Sarratantam" cites a saying of "Malus Philosophus"<fc red><sup>3</sup></fc> which attempts to formulate the psychological relation of the lapis to consciousness:\\ "This stone is below thee, as to obedience; \\ above thee, as to dominion;\\ therefore from thee, as to knowledge;\\ about thee, as to equals."<fc red><sup>4</sup></fc>\\ Applied to the self, this would mean: "The self is subordinate to you, yet on the other hand rules you. It is dependent on your own efforts and your knowledge, but transcends you and embraces all those who are of like mind. This refers to the collective nature of the self, since the self epitomizes the wholeness of the personality. By definition, wholeness includes the collective unconscious, which as experience seems to show is everywhere identical."\\ <fc green>I have no idea what this last bit means, '...since the self epitomizes the wholeness of the personality.' ??? </fc> |
| §300 "Mercurius is by no means the Christian devil ..." | §300 "Mercurius is by no means the Christian devil ..." |
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| [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §301 "Thus, with Augustine, the first day of creation begins with self knowledge, //cognitio sui ipsius// ,<fc red><sup>13</sup></fc> by which is meant a knowledge not of the ego but of the self, that objective phenomenon of which the ego is the subject.<fc red><sup>14</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>13</sup></fc><sub>"And when it [the creature's knowledge] comes to the knowledge of itself, that is one day" (Et hoc cum facit in cognitione sui ipsius, dies unus est). - //The City of God// , XI, vii. This may be the source for the strange designation of the lapis as "filius unius diei." <fc green>(son of a single day)</fc> [Cf. //[[aker:collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// pp. 335, 504.]</sub>\\ <fc green>More reading here about self knowledge and the days of creation, the day of rest etc.</fc> | [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §301 "Thus, with Augustine, the first day of creation begins with self knowledge, //cognitio sui ipsius// ,<fc red><sup>13</sup></fc> by which is meant a knowledge not of the ego but of the self, that objective phenomenon of which the ego is the subject.<fc red><sup>14</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>13</sup></fc><sub>"And when it [the creature's knowledge] comes to the knowledge of itself, that is one day" (Et hoc cum facit in cognitione sui ipsius, dies unus est). - //The City of God// , XI, vii. This may be the source for the strange designation of the lapis as "filius unius diei." <fc green>(son of a single day)</fc> [Cf. //[[collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// pp. 335, 504.]</sub>\\ <fc green>More reading here about self knowledge and the days of creation, the day of rest etc.</fc> |
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| §306 "...bring to mind the world-tree and the world-axis - attributes with which the tree symbol is almost universally endowed." | §306 "...bring to mind the world-tree and the world-axis - attributes with which the tree symbol is almost universally endowed." |
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| §310 "The symbol of the fountain, the //fontina// , is known in alchemy; in the alchemical pictures it is often shown as a medieval town fountain,<fc red><sup>2</sup></fc> and the upright part in the middle would correspond to the tree."\\ <fc red><sup>2</sup></fc><sub>[Cf. " [[aker:collected_works:cw16|The Psychology of the Transference]]," Fig. 1.]</sub> | §310 "The symbol of the fountain, the //fontina// , is known in alchemy; in the alchemical pictures it is often shown as a medieval town fountain,<fc red><sup>2</sup></fc> and the upright part in the middle would correspond to the tree."\\ <fc red><sup>2</sup></fc><sub>[Cf. " [[collected_works:cw16|The Psychology of the Transference]]," Fig. 1.]</sub> |
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| §316 "The tree corresponds to the passive, vegetative principle, the snake to the active, animal principle. The tree symbolises earthbound corporeality, the snake emotionality and the possession of a soul." | §316 "The tree corresponds to the passive, vegetative principle, the snake to the active, animal principle. The tree symbolises earthbound corporeality, the snake emotionality and the possession of a soul." |
| == 3. The Tetrasomia == | == 3. The Tetrasomia == |
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| §358 "The aim of the tetrasomia is the reduction (or synthesis) of a quaternio of opposites to unity. The names of the planets themselves indicate two dyads, one benevolent (Tin / Jupiter ♄ and Copper / Venus ♀), the other malefic (Lead / Saturn ♃ and Iron / Mars ♂), and such dyads often constitute an alchemical quaternity.<fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> \\ ....This is expressed particularly clearly in another archetypal form of the same idea: in the structure of the royal marriage, which follows that of the cross-cousin marriage.<fc red><sup>4</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>1</sup></fc><sub>"And in our opus there are two earths and two waters." - "Scala phil.," //Art aurif// ., II, p. 137.</sub>\\ <fc red><sup>4</sup></fc><sub>Cf. [[aker:collected_works:cw16|CW 16]] "The Psychology of the Transference," ch. 2.</sub> | §358 "The aim of the tetrasomia is the reduction (or synthesis) of a quaternio of opposites to unity. The names of the planets themselves indicate two dyads, one benevolent (Tin / Jupiter ♄ and Copper / Venus ♀), the other malefic (Lead / Saturn ♃ and Iron / Mars ♂), and such dyads often constitute an alchemical quaternity.<fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> \\ ....This is expressed particularly clearly in another archetypal form of the same idea: in the structure of the royal marriage, which follows that of the cross-cousin marriage.<fc red><sup>4</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>1</sup></fc><sub>"And in our opus there are two earths and two waters." - "Scala phil.," //Art aurif// ., II, p. 137.</sub>\\ <fc red><sup>4</sup></fc><sub>Cf. [[collected_works:cw16|CW 16]] "The Psychology of the Transference," ch. 2.</sub> |
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| §359 "As a rule, the lapis is synthesized from the quaternity of the elements or from the ogdoad of elements plus qualities (cold/warm, moist/dry)." | §359 "As a rule, the lapis is synthesized from the quaternity of the elements or from the ogdoad of elements plus qualities (cold/warm, moist/dry)." |
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| <fc green>See footnote 5, §359, p.279. There is an interesting discussion of the grape and the vine. </fc>\\ | <fc green>See footnote 5, §359, p.279. There is an interesting discussion of the grape and the vine. </fc>\\ |
| <fc red><sup>5</sup></fc><sub> //Vitis// <fc green>[Latin for 'Vine']</fc> was the name given to the philosophical tree in late antiquity, and the opus was called the "vintage" ( //vindemia// ). <fc green>[L. vindemia "a gathering of grapes, yield of grapes," from comb. form of vinum "wine" + stem of demere "take off" (from de- "from, away from" + emere "to take;" )]</fc> Cf. Hoghelande in //Theatr. chem// ., I (1659), p. 180: "Man's blood and the red juice of the grape is our fire." //Uvae Hermetis// = "philosophical water" <fc green>[Uvae = a grape, berry of the vine]</fc> [[aker:collected_works:alchemylexicon|(Ruland, //Lexicon// ,p. 325).]] //Vinum// is a frequent synonym for the //aqua permanens// . ...</sub> | <fc red><sup>5</sup></fc><sub> //Vitis// <fc green>[Latin for 'Vine']</fc> was the name given to the philosophical tree in late antiquity, and the opus was called the "vintage" ( //vindemia// ). <fc green>[L. vindemia "a gathering of grapes, yield of grapes," from comb. form of vinum "wine" + stem of demere "take off" (from de- "from, away from" + emere "to take;" )]</fc> Cf. Hoghelande in //Theatr. chem// ., I (1659), p. 180: "Man's blood and the red juice of the grape is our fire." //Uvae Hermetis// = "philosophical water" <fc green>[Uvae = a grape, berry of the vine]</fc> [[AlchemyLexicon|(Ruland, //Lexicon// ,p. 325).]] //Vinum// is a frequent synonym for the //aqua permanens// . ...</sub> |
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| §360 "The four forms of Hermes in Egyptian Hellenism are clearly derived from the [[wp>Horus|four sons of Horus]]."\\ <fc green>Jung is talking here in the context of the 'fourfold Mercurius' and is bringing the Hellenistic Hermes into things :) He continues to talk of the sons of Horus and how they came to replaced the old gods of the four quarters of heaven. Further...</fc>\\ "The quaternity is in fact a //leitmotiv//in the ritual for the dead: ... Horus begot his sons with his mother Isis. The incest motif, which was continued in Christian tradition and extended into late medieval alchemy, thus begins far back in Egyptian antiquity."\\ <fc green>The four sons are often shown with (from wikipedia):\\ - Duamutef, the jackal-headed god representing the east, whose jar contained the stomach and was protected by the goddess Neith\\ - Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the north, whose jar contained the lungs and was protected by the goddess Nephthys\\ - Imseti, the human-headed god representing the south, whose jar contained the liver and was protected by the goddess Isis\\ - Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god representing the west, whose jar contained the intestines and was protected by the goddess Selket.\\ Notice the one quarter human, and three quarters animal. Also, the human part is protected by the goddess Isis, their mother and their fathers mother (the incest motif mentioned)</fc> | §360 "The four forms of Hermes in Egyptian Hellenism are clearly derived from the [[wp>Horus|four sons of Horus]]."\\ <fc green>Jung is talking here in the context of the 'fourfold Mercurius' and is bringing the Hellenistic Hermes into things :) He continues to talk of the sons of Horus and how they came to replaced the old gods of the four quarters of heaven. Further...</fc>\\ "The quaternity is in fact a //leitmotiv//in the ritual for the dead: ... Horus begot his sons with his mother Isis. The incest motif, which was continued in Christian tradition and extended into late medieval alchemy, thus begins far back in Egyptian antiquity."\\ <fc green>The four sons are often shown with (from wikipedia):\\ - Duamutef, the jackal-headed god representing the east, whose jar contained the stomach and was protected by the goddess Neith\\ - Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the north, whose jar contained the lungs and was protected by the goddess Nephthys\\ - Imseti, the human-headed god representing the south, whose jar contained the liver and was protected by the goddess Isis\\ - Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god representing the west, whose jar contained the intestines and was protected by the goddess Selket.\\ Notice the one quarter human, and three quarters animal. Also, the human part is protected by the goddess Isis, their mother and their fathers mother (the incest motif mentioned)</fc> |
| §380 <fc green>Jung quotes Dorn here with some interesting notes ...worth reading. Even more interesting I think are some of the footnotes.</fc>\\ | §380 <fc green>Jung quotes Dorn here with some interesting notes ...worth reading. Even more interesting I think are some of the footnotes.</fc>\\ |
| <fc red><sup>2</sup></fc><sub>An allusion to the many colours of the //caudo pavonis// (peacock's tail), whose appearance heralds the attainment of the goal.</sub>\\ | <fc red><sup>2</sup></fc><sub>An allusion to the many colours of the //caudo pavonis// (peacock's tail), whose appearance heralds the attainment of the goal.</sub>\\ |
| <fc red><sup>4</sup></fc><sub>The terrestrial equivalent of the sponge was said to be the puff-ball. Sponges could hear and were sentient. When torn up, they exuded a juice like blood. Cf. the mandrake, which shrieks when it is torn up. "When they are torn from their places, it is heard and there will be a great noise." (Calid. "Liber secretorum," //Art. aurif// ., I, p. 343.) For the sponge, see //[[aker:collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// , p. 134 and n. 205.</sub> | <fc red><sup>4</sup></fc><sub>The terrestrial equivalent of the sponge was said to be the puff-ball. Sponges could hear and were sentient. When torn up, they exuded a juice like blood. Cf. the mandrake, which shrieks when it is torn up. "When they are torn from their places, it is heard and there will be a great noise." (Calid. "Liber secretorum," //Art. aurif// ., I, p. 343.) For the sponge, see //[[collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// , p. 134 and n. 205.</sub> |
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| §382 "This remarkable text explains the tree as a metaphorical form of the arcane substance, a living thing that comes into existence according to its own laws, and grows, blossoms, and bears fruit like a plant. This plant is likened to the sponge, which grows in the depths of the sea and seems to have an affinity with the mandrake (Cf footnote 4.). ...A sponge that bleeds and a mandrake that shrieks when pulled up are neither "vegetabilia materiae" nor are they found in nature, at least not in nature as we know it, though they may occur in that more comprehensive, Platonic nature as Dorn understood it, that is, in a nature that includes psychic "animalia," i.e., mythologems and archetypes. Such are the mandrake and similar organisms. ...At any rate the "stone that is no stone, nor of the nature of stone" (Cf. footnote 9) comes into this category."\\ <fc green>This last sentence is interesting I think and the reason I tried to write a lead up to the context of this sentence. The quote from Dorn is an interesting read.</fc> | §382 "This remarkable text explains the tree as a metaphorical form of the arcane substance, a living thing that comes into existence according to its own laws, and grows, blossoms, and bears fruit like a plant. This plant is likened to the sponge, which grows in the depths of the sea and seems to have an affinity with the mandrake (Cf footnote 4.). ...A sponge that bleeds and a mandrake that shrieks when pulled up are neither "vegetabilia materiae" nor are they found in nature, at least not in nature as we know it, though they may occur in that more comprehensive, Platonic nature as Dorn understood it, that is, in a nature that includes psychic "animalia," i.e., mythologems and archetypes. Such are the mandrake and similar organisms. ...At any rate the "stone that is no stone, nor of the nature of stone" (Cf. footnote 9) comes into this category."\\ <fc green>This last sentence is interesting I think and the reason I tried to write a lead up to the context of this sentence. The quote from Dorn is an interesting read.</fc> |
| == 7. The Rose-coloured Blood and the Rose == | == 7. The Rose-coloured Blood and the Rose == |
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| §384 "In the "Aquarium sapientum" the "son of the great world" ( //filius macrocosmi// , the lapis) is correlated with Christ,<fc red><sup>3</sup></fc> who is the //filius microcosmi// , and his blood is the quintessence, the red tincture."\\ <fc red><sup>3</sup></fc><sub> //Mus. herm// ., p. 118: "Christ is compared and united with the earthly stone ...it is an outstanding type and lifelike image of the incarnation of Christ." <fc green>(This reference is the the text //Aquarium Sapientum// in the //[[aker:collected_works:hermeticmuseum|Museum Hermeticum]]// . Jung references the latin version. I'm not entirely sure where in the English version it references then - the //Aquarium Sapientum// treatise is named 'THE SOPHIC HYDROLITH' in the English translation I think. Reading this text, the message there is the same, but can't be sure of the exact reference.</fc> </sub> | §384 "In the "Aquarium sapientum" the "son of the great world" ( //filius macrocosmi// , the lapis) is correlated with Christ,<fc red><sup>3</sup></fc> who is the //filius microcosmi// , and his blood is the quintessence, the red tincture."\\ <fc red><sup>3</sup></fc><sub> //Mus. herm// ., p. 118: "Christ is compared and united with the earthly stone ...it is an outstanding type and lifelike image of the incarnation of Christ." <fc green>(This reference is the the text //Aquarium Sapientum// in the //[[HermeticMuseum|Museum Hermeticum]]// . Jung references the latin version. I'm not entirely sure where in the English version it references then - the //Aquarium Sapientum// treatise is named 'THE SOPHIC HYDROLITH' in the English translation I think. Reading this text, the message there is the same, but can't be sure of the exact reference.</fc> </sub> |
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| §385 "it obviously never occurred to the author, <fc green>(of //Aquarium Sapientum// )</fc> as we with our prejudiced view are quick to assume, that he had simply transferred God's attributes to the stone." | §385 "it obviously never occurred to the author, <fc green>(of //Aquarium Sapientum// )</fc> as we with our prejudiced view are quick to assume, that he had simply transferred God's attributes to the stone." |
| §398 "Sometimes the prototype is the tree of paradise, hung not with apples but with sun-and-moon fruit, like the trees in the treatise Michael Maier in the [[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Musaeum hermeticum]],<fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> or else it is a sort of Christmas tree, adorned with the seven planets and surrounded by allegories of the seven phases of the alchemical process."\\ <fc red><sup>1</sup></fc><sub>P. 702. Cf. "Symbolum Saturni," in Mylius, //Philosophia Reformata// <fc green>[To be found in Theatrum Chemicum, Vol 3, p457]</fc> , p.313: " ... </sub>\\ <fc green> An example of this image can be found in [[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Musaeum hermeticum]] Vol II, p199 as copied here : //A subtle allegory concerning the secrets of alchemy very useful to possess and pleasant to read// . By Michael Maier</fc> | §398 "Sometimes the prototype is the tree of paradise, hung not with apples but with sun-and-moon fruit, like the trees in the treatise Michael Maier in the [[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Musaeum hermeticum]],<fc red><sup>1</sup></fc> or else it is a sort of Christmas tree, adorned with the seven planets and surrounded by allegories of the seven phases of the alchemical process."\\ <fc red><sup>1</sup></fc><sub>P. 702. Cf. "Symbolum Saturni," in Mylius, //Philosophia Reformata// <fc green>[To be found in Theatrum Chemicum, Vol 3, p457]</fc> , p.313: " ... </sub>\\ <fc green> An example of this image can be found in [[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Musaeum hermeticum]] Vol II, p199 as copied here : //A subtle allegory concerning the secrets of alchemy very useful to possess and pleasant to read// . By Michael Maier</fc> |
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| {{:aker:books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_vol_2:image004.png?400|}} | {{books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_vol_2:image004.png?400|}} |
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| (English copy) Musaeum hermeticum, Vol II, p199 //A subtle allegory concerning the secrets of alchemy very useful to possess and pleasant to read// . By Michael Maier | (English copy) Musaeum hermeticum, Vol II, p199 //A subtle allegory concerning the secrets of alchemy very useful to possess and pleasant to read// . By Michael Maier |
| <fc green>Here's the page referenced by Jung from the original Latin version, p702</fc>\\ | <fc green>Here's the page referenced by Jung from the original Latin version, p702</fc>\\ |
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| {{:aker:books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_latin_p702.png?600|}} | {{books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_latin_p702.png?600|}} |
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| <fc green>Then Jung changes reference having referred to the above image and now is speaking of this image, p202 [[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Musaeum hermeticum]] Latin version, or p166 Vol I English version. Also to be found in Mylius, //Philosophia Reformata// which is in Theatrum Chemicum but I can't find it there.</fc>\\ | <fc green>Then Jung changes reference having referred to the above image and now is speaking of this image, p202 [[books_and_literature:hermetic_museum|Musaeum hermeticum]] Latin version, or p166 Vol I English version. Also to be found in Mylius, //Philosophia Reformata// which is in Theatrum Chemicum but I can't find it there.</fc>\\ |
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| {{:aker:books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_latin_p201.png?600|}} | {{books_and_literature:hermetic_museum:musaeum_hermeticum_latin_p201.png?600|}} |
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| "Standing beneath the tree is not Adam and Eve but Hermes Trismegistus as an old man and the adept as a youth. Behind Hermes Trismegistus is King Sol sitting on a lion accompanied by a fire-spitting dragon, and behind the adept is the moon goddess Diana sitting on a whale accompanied by an eagle.<fc red><sup>2</sup></fc>"\\ | "Standing beneath the tree is not Adam and Eve but Hermes Trismegistus as an old man and the adept as a youth. Behind Hermes Trismegistus is King Sol sitting on a lion accompanied by a fire-spitting dragon, and behind the adept is the moon goddess Diana sitting on a whale accompanied by an eagle.<fc red><sup>2</sup></fc>"\\ |
| <fc green>Cf. the painting 'The fall' by Hugo Van Der Goes c.1475 showing Melusina in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.</fc>\\ | <fc green>Cf. the painting 'The fall' by Hugo Van Der Goes c.1475 showing Melusina in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.</fc>\\ |
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| {{:aker:collected_works:the-fall.jpg?600|}} | {{collected_works:the-fall.jpg?600|}} |
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| <fc green>I'm not sure these colours are entirely accurate but given the description above they seem close for this context at least.</fc>\\ | <fc green>I'm not sure these colours are entirely accurate but given the description above they seem close for this context at least.</fc>\\ |
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| {{:aker:collected_works:4colours.png?100|}} | {{collected_works:4colours.png?100|}} |
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| §403 "The //Turba// has much to say about the fruit-bearing tree. ... <fc green>From the //Turba// :</fc> "I say that that old man does not cease to eat of the fruits of that tree ...until that old man becomes a youth."<fc red><sup>18</sup></fc> These fruits are here equated with the bread of life in John 6:35, but they go back beyond that to the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (second century B.C.) .. **//This is a clear hint of death and renewal//** . It is not always the fruit of the tree, but of the //granum frumenti// , the grain of wheat, from which the food of the immortality is prepared, as in //Aurora consurgens// I ..."\\ <fc green>Emphasis mine. He continues...</fc><br/.>"In the Book of Enoch the fruits of the tree of wisdom are likened to grapes, and this is of interest inasmuch as in the Middle Ages the philosophical tree was sometimes called a vine,<fc red><sup>22</sup></fc> with reference to John 15:1, "I am the true vine.""\\ <fc green>Cf. §359 above here for the vine as the philosophical tree.</fc>\\ "The fruits and seeds of the tree were also called sun and moon,<fc red><sup>23</sup></fc> to which the two trees of paradise corresponded.<fc red><sup>24</sup></fc> The sun and moon fruits presumably go back to Deuteronomy 33:13. ..." | §403 "The //Turba// has much to say about the fruit-bearing tree. ... <fc green>From the //Turba// :</fc> "I say that that old man does not cease to eat of the fruits of that tree ...until that old man becomes a youth."<fc red><sup>18</sup></fc> These fruits are here equated with the bread of life in John 6:35, but they go back beyond that to the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (second century B.C.) .. **//This is a clear hint of death and renewal//** . It is not always the fruit of the tree, but of the //granum frumenti// , the grain of wheat, from which the food of the immortality is prepared, as in //Aurora consurgens// I ..."\\ <fc green>Emphasis mine. He continues...</fc><br/.>"In the Book of Enoch the fruits of the tree of wisdom are likened to grapes, and this is of interest inasmuch as in the Middle Ages the philosophical tree was sometimes called a vine,<fc red><sup>22</sup></fc> with reference to John 15:1, "I am the true vine.""\\ <fc green>Cf. §359 above here for the vine as the philosophical tree.</fc>\\ "The fruits and seeds of the tree were also called sun and moon,<fc red><sup>23</sup></fc> to which the two trees of paradise corresponded.<fc red><sup>24</sup></fc> The sun and moon fruits presumably go back to Deuteronomy 33:13. ..." |
| §426 "This motif of the hostile stone is formulated in the "Allegoriae spientum" as follows: "Unless they stone shall be an enemy, thou wilt not attain to the desire."<fc red><sup>6</sup></fc> This enemy appears in alchemy in the guise of the poisonous or fire-spitting dragon and also as the lion. The lion's paws must be cut off,<fc red><sup>7</sup></fc> and the dragon must be killed, or else it kills or devours itself on the principle of Democritus: **//"Nature rejoices in nature, nature rules over nature, and nature conquers nature."//** <fc red><sup>8</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>7</sup></fc><sub>See illustration in Reusner's //[[books_and_literature:reusner_pandora|Pandora]]//, p.227. Also //[[collected_works:cw12|Psychology and Alchemy]]// , Fig. 4.</sub>\\ <fc green>Emphasis mine</fc> | §426 "This motif of the hostile stone is formulated in the "Allegoriae spientum" as follows: "Unless they stone shall be an enemy, thou wilt not attain to the desire."<fc red><sup>6</sup></fc> This enemy appears in alchemy in the guise of the poisonous or fire-spitting dragon and also as the lion. The lion's paws must be cut off,<fc red><sup>7</sup></fc> and the dragon must be killed, or else it kills or devours itself on the principle of Democritus: **//"Nature rejoices in nature, nature rules over nature, and nature conquers nature."//** <fc red><sup>8</sup></fc>"\\ <fc red><sup>7</sup></fc><sub>See illustration in Reusner's //[[books_and_literature:reusner_pandora|Pandora]]//, p.227. Also //[[collected_works:cw12|Psychology and Alchemy]]// , Fig. 4.</sub>\\ <fc green>Emphasis mine</fc> |
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| {{:aker:books_and_literature:reusner_pandora:5.jpg?600|}} | {{books_and_literature:reusner_pandora:5.jpg?600|}} |
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| §427 "Melusina corresponds to the Edem of the Gnostics and represents the feminine aspect of Mercurius, i.e., the female Nous (Naas of the [[wp>Naassenes|Naassenes]]), which in the form of the serpent seduced our first parents." | §427 "Melusina corresponds to the Edem of the Gnostics and represents the feminine aspect of Mercurius, i.e., the female Nous (Naas of the [[wp>Naassenes|Naassenes]]), which in the form of the serpent seduced our first parents." |
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| <fc green>I like this...</fc> \\ | <fc green>I like this...</fc> \\ |
| [[malefic:paper1|Λ]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §457 "These symbols are usually quaternity and consist of two pairs of opposites crossing one another (e.g., left/right, above/below). The four points demarcate a circle, which, apart from the point itself, is the simplest symbol of wholeness and therefore the simplest God-image.<fc red><sup>4</sup></fc> This **//reflection//** has some bearing on the emphasis laid on the cross in our text, since the cross as well as the tree is the medium of conjunction. ... The coniunctio is a culminating point of life and at the same time a death, for which reason our text mentions the "fragrance of immortality." On the one hand the anima is the connecting link with the world beyond and the eternal images, while on the other hand her emotionality involves man in the chthonic world and its transitoriness."\\ <fc red><sup>4</sup></fc><sub>"God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere." Cf. //[[aker:collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// p.47.</sub> | [[malefic:paper1|Λ]] [[aker:Religion|Σ]] §457 "These symbols are usually quaternity and consist of two pairs of opposites crossing one another (e.g., left/right, above/below). The four points demarcate a circle, which, apart from the point itself, is the simplest symbol of wholeness and therefore the simplest God-image.<fc red><sup>4</sup></fc> This **//reflection//** has some bearing on the emphasis laid on the cross in our text, since the cross as well as the tree is the medium of conjunction. ... The coniunctio is a culminating point of life and at the same time a death, for which reason our text mentions the "fragrance of immortality." On the one hand the anima is the connecting link with the world beyond and the eternal images, while on the other hand her emotionality involves man in the chthonic world and its transitoriness."\\ <fc red><sup>4</sup></fc><sub>"God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere." Cf. //[[collected_works:cw14|Mysterium Coniunctionis]]// p.47.</sub> |
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