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Through the
Alchemical Looking Glass
An Interpretation of Stephan Michelspacher’s
Cabala: Spiegel der Kunst und Natur, in Alchymia
concerning the Tincture of the Alchemists
A thesis presented to
the Graduate Faculty of Humanities University of Amsterdam In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTERS OF ARTS in
RELIGIOUS STUDIES by
Alinda van Ackooy August, 2016
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Table of Contents.
Introduction ... 3
Chapter 1. The Cabala of Stephan Michelspacher ... 5
1.1. Stephan Michelspacher and the Cabala ... 5
1.2. Christological interpretation of the Cabala ... 8
1.3. Paracelsian Influences in the Cabala... 9
1.3.1. The Four Pillars of Medicine ... 9
1.3.2. The Four Elements ... 11
1.3.3. The Tria Prima of Mercury, Sulphur and Salt ... 12
1.4. Practical Instructions in the Cabala ... 13
1.5. Conclusion of the First Chapter ... 16
Chapter 2. The First Engraving: 1. Spigel der Kunst und Natur ... 19
2.1. Color Symbolism in Alchemy ... 19
2.2. The Red Blood of the Lion and the White Gluten of the Eagle ... 22
2.3. Prima Materia and Ultima Materia ... 24
2.4. The Diagram of Azoth and Vitriol ... 27
2.5. The Diagram of Four ... 31
2.6. Via Humida vs. Via Sicca ... 33
2.7. Alchemical Interpretation of the First Engraving ... 36
Chapter 3. The Second Engraving: 2. Anfang. Exaltation. ... 39
3.1. The Fiery and Venomous aspects of the Dragon ... 39
3.2. The Alphabet of Alchemy ... 42
3.3. The philosophical Egg ... 44
3.4. Alchemical interpretation of the Second Engraving ... 46
Chapter 4. The Third Engraving: 3. Mittel. Coniunction. ... 49
4.1. The Different Tinctures of the Planets ... 49
4.2. In the Bowels of the Mountain ... 51
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4.4. Zodiacal Ingredients ... 55
4.5. Alchemical Interpretation of the Third Engraving ... 57
Chapter 5. The Fourth Engraving: 4. Endt. Multiplication. ... 59
5.1. The Alchemical Fountain ... 59
5.2. The Seven Planets, Again ... 61
5.3. The Resurrection of the Christ ... 62
5.4. Alchemical Interpretation of the Fourth Engraving ... 63
Conclusion. ... 65
Bibliography. ... 67
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.
Introduction.
The subject of this thesis is the Cabala: Spiegel der Kunst und Natur, in Alchymia (1615), written by Stephan Michelspacher. Due to the richness of its illustrations, the details of the engravings in the Cabala are often discussed in works on the symbolism of alchemical emblems. However, as fascinating and beautiful the Cabala is, the treatise as a whole appears to be a rather undiscussed subject among scholars. Authors such as Stanislas Klossowski de Rola and Johannes Fabricius (1587-1616) have written about the engravings, considering them as representations of practical alchemy, whereas others, like Marie-Louis von Franz (1915-1998) and Urszula Szulakowska, tend to interpret the illustrations from a psychological or Christological point of view. Antoine Faivre, a prominent scholar in the study of Western esotericism, pointed out that “for a period of thirty years, beginning with the end of the sixteenth century, there was a profusion of works whose engravings have as much, if not more, importance than the text.” 1 We can therefore presume that the engravings in the Cabala contain more
information than would appear at first glance.
The goal of this thesis is two-fold. The thesis aims at presenting evidence that the
Cabala is not to be interpreted as a psychological, spiritual or Christological work. As
the following chapters will show, the engravings are full of alchemical symbolism, filled with references to alchemical authorities and practical directions. A particular focus of
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attention in our search for answers is the oeuvre of Paracelsus, famous for his works on iatrochemistry (medical alchemy). Paracelsus firmly believed that a universal medicine could be created by performing the right alchemical operations in the right order and with materials that are prepared in the right manner. Carrying out this alchemical transmutation, the Great Work or magnus opus, would eventually lead to the attainment of the Philosophers’ Stone. With this Stone, which is not a regular stone at all, the alchemist was able to transmute inferior metals into silver (argyropoeia) or gold (chyrsopoeia). It has also been named the Elixir of Life, as this Stone was supposedly able to consume all diseases.
Secondly, this thesis aims at presenting evidence that Michelspacher intended to write a practical guideline for the alchemical transmutation in the Cabala. A significant correlation between the Cabala of Michelspacher and Paracelsus’ The Treasure of
Treasures for Alchemists (1659) exists, assuming that Michelspacher too, has searched
for the treasure of treasures, that is the Tincture of the Alchemists. In chapters 2-5 the engravings in the Cabala are examined in detail, interpreted and possible alchemical instructions are set out. The first chapter provides some background information about Michelspacher, the Cabala, Paracelsus and the operations concerned with alchemical transmutation. An English translation of the Cabala, written by Leonhard Thurneisser (1667), is added as appendix for further reading.
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Chapter 1.
The Cabala
of Stephan Michelspacher
As mentioned before, this thesis holds that the engravings in Michelspacher's Cabala:
Spiegel der Kunst und Natur are not to be interpreted from a soteriological
perspective, but instead argues that they function as instructions for the alchemical process. A closer look at the text of the Cabala and its engravings shows a correlation between the Michelspacher’s treatise and several works of Paracelsus. This in itself is not surprisingly, as Michelspacher was known to be a supporter of Paracelsian ideas and theories. If we examine the engravings in the Cabala, we can state with certainty that all four of the combined images illustrate concepts of Paracelsus’ theories on medical alchemy. Before I continue with the analysis and interpretation of the engravings in the Cabala (chapter 2-5), an introduction of Michelspacher’s life and work, the Cabala itself, and a brief summary of Paracelsus’ most influential theories, is in order.
1.1. Stephan Michelspacher and the Cabala
Few details are known about the life of Stephan Michelspacher, except for his short career as a publisher (1613-1619). Starting as a Paracelsian physician in Tyrol in the early part of the seventeenth century, he practiced medicine until he left Tyrol around 1613 and relocated to Augsburg, where he started a publishing house which he ran until at least 1619. It is suggested that he moved to Augsburg, as Michelspacher was a Lutheran in a re-Catholicized city, and Augsburg was one of the cities in the Holy
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Roman Empire where the Protestant and Catholic religions were allowed to coexist.2
Considering that Augsburg was the center of commerce and one of the most important centers of print between 1480 and 1630, moving there whilst attempting to start a publishing house, might simply have been the wisest choice for Michelspacher at that moment to ensure success in establishing himself as a publisher.3
It has been argued that Michelspacher’s publishing list partly reflects the interests of Philip Hainhofer (1568-1647), a merchant and art collector in Augsburg. In the period 1613-1619 Michelspacher published works on the subjects of mathematics, geometry, physics and anatomy, to products of mystic and Hermetic science. Many of his works contain detailed illustrations. A beautiful example of his illustrious works is the
Catoptrum Microcosmicum, a work on human anatomy with a series of complex prints
engraved by Lucas Kilian (1579-1637) and first published by Michelspacher in 1613. This anatomical work, written by Michelspacher’s friend and colleague Johann Remmelin (1583-1632), discusses the macrocosm and the microcosm as the reflection of divine creation.4 In the following years two subsequent editions were published, the
Elucidarius (1614) and Pinax microcosmographicus (1615), both works featuring
Michelspacher’s name.5
Other works produced by Michelspacher’s publishing house are for example:
Ein Mathematisch new Invention, einer sehr nutzlichen und geschmeidgen
Hauβ- oder Handmühlen (1617) by Johann Faulhaber (1580-1635),
mathematician and Rosicrucian follower;
Tabulae Proportionum Angulorum Geometriae (1617) by Tobias Volkmer (1586-1659), goldsmith and mathematician;
Inventum Petri Apiani (1616) by Georg Galgemair (1564-1619), mathematician and astrologer;
Geometria et Perspectiva (1617) by artist Lorenz Stoer (c.1537-c.1621); Ferinae Weltzheimenses (1619) by the earlier mentioned Johann Remmelin.
2 Ackooy, ‘Stephan Michelspacher’. In: Divine Wisdom – Divine Nature. The Message of the Rosicrucian
Manifestoes in the Visual Language of the Seventeenth Century, p. 113. See also Schadelbauer, ‘Zu Johnnes
Rümelin und Stephan Michelspacher’. In: Sudhoffs Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin, pp. 123-127.
3 Künast, ‘Augsburg’s Role in the German Book Trade in the First Half of the Sixteenth Century’. In: The
Book Triumphant. Print in Transition in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, p. 320; p. 333.
4 Ackooy, ‘Stephan Michelspacher.’ p. 113.
5 Massey, ‘The Alchemical Womb: Johann Remmelin’s Catoptrum microcosmicum’. In: Visual Cultures of
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In the year 1615 the first German edition of Cabala. Spiegel der Kunst und Natur was published in the city of Augsburg and printed by Johann Schultes. The Cabala is composed of a short twelve-page text, accompanied by four large and richly detailed engravings. The illustrations were designed by Michelspacher and engraved by Raphael Custos (1590/91-1664), engraver and publisher in Augsburg and son of Dominicus Custos, who worked as an engraver for Rudolf II in Prague (1560-1612). The Latin edition, Cabala, Speculum Artis et Naturae, in Alchymia, was published in 1616 in collaboration with David Francke, a printer in Augsburg. This Latin edition contains a short dedication to the Rosicrucian Brotherhood underneath the title on the front page: “Rosae Crucis fraternitati dicata edita, quo hac in material amplius nil desideretur” (Published and dedicated to the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross, so that nothing more is lacking in this matter). The title-page further makes mention of “an unknown, yet mentioned author” and further states that the author is made known through his publisher’s mark in the first illustration (“Durch einen unbekandten, doch genandten, wie ihm das Signet in diser ersten Figur Zeugnis gibt”). It is certain to assume the author of the Cabala is in fact Michelspacher, as the first engraving contains a monogram with the letters M, L, S and P, serving as a personal monogram for MicheLSPacher. Furthermore, the first three pages of the Cabala consist of a dedication to Remmelin, with whom Michelspacher collaborated on the Catoptrum
microcosmicum, signed by Stephan Michelspacher of Tyrol. 6
Whereas the dedication was simply a word of thanks to Remmelin and has no further significance for the remainder of this work, the following nine pages of the treatise reveal an explanation of the alchemical work Michelspacher intends to clarify. It is subdivided into five sections, namely ‘The introduction to the reader of this Art’ (“Eingang an den Leser dieser Kunst”), ‘Preface’ (“Vorred”), ‘The Art’ (“Kunst”), ‘The explanation of this Art’ (“Erklärung der Kunst”) and ‘A declaration of the most ancient Stone instead of an epilogue’ (“Zum Beschluβ ein Erklärung des uhralten Steins”). Throughout these pages Michelspacher explains the necessary steps the reader should undertake and that by following these steps in the right order, the hidden secrets of nature will become clear and the reader will have completed the Great Work.
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1.2. Christological interpretation of the Cabala
One of the main contributors to the study and understanding of the engravings in Michelspacher's Cabala is Urszula Szulakowska. She currently lectures at the Art History Department of the University of Leeds and has published several monographs and papers on the history of alchemy. Szulakowska tends to study alchemical illustrations from a religious and political point of view. The importance of historically contextualizing such images cannot be denied, however, it does leave the practical alchemical content undiscussed. This becomes apparent in her publications on Michelspacher's Cabala. Although Szulakowska does agree that the four engravings are representing the alchemical work, she believes the illustrations only refer to practical laboratory work in a superficial manner.7 In her article 'The Apocalyptic
Eucharist and Religious Dissidence in Stefan Michelspacher's Cabala: Spiegel der
Kunst und Natur, in Alchymia (1616)', Szulakowska argues that the illustrations are
“loosely related to a brief traditional account of chemical work,” and concludes that “the apocalyptic symbology in Michelspacher's Cabala represents a judgement on those who are not united with Christ within the soul but only within the empty formulas of external ritual”.8 Thus, Szulakowska suggests that the images should be interpreted
within the frame of apocalyptic symbolism.
Such a Christological interpretation of the engravings in the Cabala is, according to Szulakowska, connected to the religious and political events that took place in the area of Tyrol before and during Michelspacher's life. As mentioned before, Michelspacher originated from the Tyrol region, suggested by his signature underneath the dedication to Johann Remmelin on the third page of the Cabala. During the 1550's this area experienced a Counter-Reformation, turning the greater part of the Tyrol region Roman Catholic. Naturally this brought about changes, such as the repression of Paracelsian alchemists. The Paracelsians, however, grouped together and maintained a lively correspondence with the alchemists in Augsburg, a city of religious tolerance. Szulakowska suggests that Michelspacher was part of this network, as he was both a Paracelsian and a Protestant, and his work was published in Augsburg.9 Whether
7 Szulakowska, 'The Apocalyptic Eucharist and Religious Dissidence in Stefan Michelspacher's Cabala:
Spiegel der Kunst und Natur, in Alchymia (1616), p. 200; p. 216.
8 Idem, p. 221.
9 Szulakowska, 'The Apocalyptic Eucharist and Religious Dissidence in Stefan Michelspacher's Cabala:
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Michelspacher was a Protestant or Catholic is significant according to Szulakowska because “the emergence of Paracelsian alchemical illustration may have been its function as a psychological compensation for the rejection of Catholic imagery by the Protestants,” as she argues. Szulakowska underpins this argument by explaining that illustrations with Paracelsian elements mostly appear in the Protestant regions.10
1.3. Paracelsian Influences in the Cabala
Whereas Szulakowska states that the Cabala is only loosely related to the practical alchemical work, this thesis argues that the Paracelsian and other alchemical elements are indicators that Michelspacher’s treatise is a practical guideline for medical alchemy. Besides the visual Paracelsian elements, the text of Cabala itself seems to contain direct quotations from several works of Paracelsus. Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493-1541), more commonly known as Paracelsus, was a Swiss physician and one of the most influential writers in the field of medical alchemy. He wrote extensively on the subject of iatrochemistry, with which he laid down the foundation for medical alchemy. Paracelsus rejected chrysopoeia (gold making) as the ultimate goal for alchemical transmutation, but firmly believed that alchemy should be a method for preparing medicine and explaining bodily functions.11
1.3.1. The Four Pillars of Medicine
Philosophy, astronomy, alchemy and virtues, also known as the four pillars of medicine, are present in both the first and second engraving. Paracelsus held that a general medical theory was necessary in the field of medicine and developed a fourfold foundation in Das Buch Paragranum (1528-1530), which rests upon these four pillars.12
Understand then thouroughly that I am expounding the basics of medicine upon which I stand and will stand: namely, Philosophy, Astronomy, Alchemy, and Virtue. The first pillar, Philosophy, is the knowledge of earth and water; the second pillar, Astronomy together with Astrology, has a complete knowledge of the two elements, air and fire; the third pillar, Alchemy, is knowledge of the experiment and preparation of the four elements mentioned;
10 Szulakowska, The Sacrificial Body and the Day of Doom, p. 2. 11 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 128.
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and the fourth pillar, Virtue, should remain with the physician until death, for this completes and preserves the other three pillars.13
Philosophy, the first pillar, is understanding the authority of nature, because who is a better teacher than nature itself? 14 Paracelsus explains that the knowledge of nature is
the foundation of the science of medicine, for “nature is the disease itself; and for this reason it alone knows what the disease consists of”. 15 Paracelsus’ reasoning resulted in
the idea that in medicine like should heal like, therefore rejecting the medical theory of treating diseases with contraries. Where philosophy is defined in relation to the lower part of the natural cosmos and relates to the elements of water and earth, astronomy, the second pillar, is concerned with the upper part of the cosmos and the elements of fire and air.16 This division of the lower and upper part of the cosmos is
related to the idea of the microcosm and macrocosm. In the Tabula Smaragdina, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, it is said “that which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above, to accomplish the miracle of one thing.” It is a reference to the interconnectedness of the celestial world and the terrestrial world, as for many centuries people believed that the celestial bodies could affect the earth, its nature and its inhabitants. 17 In Paracelsus' case, however, the
microcosm refers to man himself. According to Paracelsus this meant that knowledge about the universe is actually knowledge about the human body, as both are a reflection of the other. Thus if the physician or alchemist knows how nature and astronomy work, he knows how the human body works and he knows how to treat physical ailments. For treatment of these ailments and diseases the physician turned to alchemy, the third pillar of Paracelsus’ medical theory and a powerful instrument in the making of medicine, as “alchemy is able to refine materials because it has an understanding of the astronomical dimension of medicine.”18 In Paracelsus’ view, then, a true physician
has knowledge of all the wonders of nature, both of the lower and upper part of the cosmos that is, and uses alchemy as a method to produce medicines according to this knowledge, wherein the ethical virtue of the physician, the fourth pillar of this theory, plays a pivotal part.19
13 Goodrick-Clarke, Paracelsus, pp. 72-73. 14 Weeks, Paracelsus, p. 10.
15 Idem, p. 111. 16 Idem, pp. 11.
17 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 111. 18 Weeks, Paracelsus, p. 13.
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1.3.2. The Four Elements
The separation or Scheidung of the four elements of air, fire, water and earth – which are illustrated in the first and third engraving – is the most significant part of Paracelsian medicine. It was common for Paracelsus to invent words for methods, substances, and other things alchemically related, so he called this process of separation spagyria. As Principe explains, the term derives from the Greek words span (“to draw out”) and ageirein (“to bring together”), indicating that spagyria was a process of separating and (re)combining. Paracelsus considered the Creation itself as a chemical process of separation. Debus elaborates on this idea by explaining the cyclical process: “First het elements were formed, then the firmament was separated from the fire. Further separations resulted in spirits and dreams (from the air); water plants, salts, and marine animals (from earth). Other substances were then separated from those already created and the process continued until the original primal matter was once more obtained.”20 Or in other words, Genesis was the first example of the
opus magnum, or the Great Work, as God himself separated the water from the sky,
parted the seas and formed land.
The story of elemental separation in Genesis emphasizes the role of the four elements in Paracelsus' chemical philosophy. The idea that all matter is composed of the four elements – earth, water, fire and air – is not a new idea in itself. It was the basis of Aristotelian physics and many scientists and philosophers after him accepted this idea. Connected to these elements are the four primary qualities: hot, cold, wet and dry. According to Aristotle, each element consists of two qualities. Fire is a result of the qualities hot and dry, water of cold and wet, earth of cold and dry and air is created from hot and wet.21 The Aristotelian system was later adopted by the eighth-century
Arab alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan, who developed the theory that one element can be transmuted into another if the qualities of that element are replaced by the qualities of a different element.22 Principe explains the Jabirian process of transmutation as
follows:
The “fire” distills off as a flammable and/or colored substance, the “air” as an oily one, and the “water” as a watery one; the “earth” remains behind as the residue. Once the elements are separated by distillation, Jābir wants to break them down further
20 Debus, The Chemical Philosophy, p. 56. 21 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 37.
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by removing one of their two qualities. According to Aristotle, water is the combination of the two qualities wet and cold with matter, so Jābir orders his readers to distill the separated water repeatedly from something with the quality of “dry” – he suggests sulfur. By repeated distillation, the dryness of the sulfur destroys the wetness of the water, so the alchemist is left with something simpler than an Aristotelian element: matter endowed with coldness alone.23
Paracelsus, however, differed on this theory. Although he did acknowledge the existence of the four elements, Paracelsus rejected the Aristotelian theory that each element consists of two qualities. Instead he proposed the idea that the elements have only one quality, or nature: fire is hot, water is moist, air is dry and earth is cold.
1.3.3. The Tria Prima of Mercury, Sulphur and Salt
While Paracelsus partly agreed with the existence of the Aristotelian elements, he developed a different theory to support his own system: the tria prima, or the three principles of Mercury, Sulphur and Salt, illustrated in the second engraving. Before Paracelsus' theory on the three principles, the Mercury-Sulphur theory of Jabir was adopted by alchemists, which states that all metals are composed of the two principles Mercury and Sulphur. It is the theoretical foundation of transmutation, as Principe writes. According to this theory, gold is formed when the purest Mercury and purest Sulphur are combined in the right ratio, but if the proportions are off or the substances are impure, it will produce base metals such as silver or lead. This meant that if the Mercury and Sulphur in a lower metal were purified and combined into the right proportion, one could produce gold from base metals.24 By adding a third principle to
the Sulphur-Mercury theory – that is Salt – Paracelsus follows Hermes' idea that all metals stem from three substances: body, spirit and soul.25 Sulphur (the soul) was
considered to be the combustible or flammable element; Mercury (the spirit) was the volatile or fluid principle; and Salt (body) was the solid component of matter. According to Paracelsus, then, each substance was composed of these three principles, as is shown in his famous example of burning wood: “For that which smokes and evaporates over the fire is Mercury; what flames and is burnt is Sulphur; and all ash is Salt.”26 The Sulphur, Salt and Mercury they are speaking about here are not the
common substances of sulfur and mercury though. They are Decknamen or cover
23 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 37. 24 Idem, pp. 35-36.
25 Pagel, Paracelsus, p .267.
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names for the philosophical Salt, Sulphur and Mercury. Through various alchemical operations the alchemist is supposed to extract the Salt, Sulphur and Mercury out of the substances and combine them, resulting in the creation of the philosophers' stone.27 In order to extract the three principles from any substance, Paracelsus used
the chemical process of separation. Paracelsus believed that even the most poisonous substance could produce powerful medicines as long as the alchemist used chemical separation to extract the beneficial parts, leaving the toxic part behind. The useful parts in substances were, not surprisingly, the three principles Mercury, Sulphur and Salt. Through several chemical processes (distillation, sublimation, putrefaction, etc.) the principles could be separated from the toxic residue and were recombined once they were purified and free of toxins, resulting in a powerful, toxic-free medicine.28
1.4. Practical Instructions in the Cabala
The belief that the Cabala is supposed to be read as a guide for practical alchemy is furthermore supported by the text of the Cabala itself. Although Paracelsus’ seven stages of transmutation are depicted in the third engraving – namely calcination, sublimation, solution, putrefaction, distillation, coagulation and tincture – Michelspacher gives a summary of all operations which are to be used and separates these per illustration.
But these things do only concern the students of the true and solid alchymy and spagyrick art, and those that are expert in chymical operations, to whom even the least occult and arcana of nature will be clear, by help of the degrees, or order of the scales which are often made use of in operation. As for example the figure by the number 1 doth declare the degree of calcination, under which also reverberation and commendation are understood. The second figure doth show the degree of exaltation, which doth comprehend sublimation and elevation together with distillation. The third figure doth note conjunction, together with putrefaction, solution, dissolution, resolution, digestion, circulation. The fourth figure doth contain multiplication, under which are latent, ascension, lavation, imbibition, cohobation, as also coagulation, fixation, augmentation and tincture.29
27 Clulee, 'Astronomia inferior: Legacies of Johannes Trithemius and John Dee'. In: Secrets of Nature, p. 215. 28 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, pp. 128-129.
29 “Durch die grad, oder staplen so in der ordnung, in Labore sollen durchgangen werden. Als Erstlich die Figur
No.1 anzeigt, den grad der Calcination, dabei verstanden, das Reverberiren, auch das Cummendiren. Die ander Figur inhalt ihres grads, als die Exaltation, darunder beriffen die Sublimation, und Elevation, sampt der der Distillation. Die dritte Figur, belangt die Conjunction, darin wird auch verstanden, die Putrefaction, auch
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The illustrations in the Cabala all represent certain alchemical operations as Michelspacher writes.
The first engraving illustrates the operation of calcination, which also contains the operations of reverberation and cementation.30 Calcination is “the Reduction of
Bodies by the powerful action of fire into Calx”, which means that the matter is burned off, either by adding a dry corrosive or acids, leaving behind white-colored ashes or calx. Both cementation and reverberation are methods for calcining matter:
cementation refers to the process of calcination where dry corrosives are added, such
as corrosive salts, and reverberation refers to calcination by adding acid or corroding smoke to the matter.31 The overall goal of calcination is to remove the “body” of the
matter. “The power of the Arcana, i.e. the true remedies in contrast to the “soups” and concoctions of traditional Galenic Medicine, derives from their volatility and the absence of “body”, as Pagel summarizes from the Paragranum.32 Thus, the first phase
of the Great Work is to separate the body or Salt from the matter, hence the first engraving in Michelspacher's Cabala illustrates the process of calcination. However, if we read back a few paragraphs in the Cabala, Michelspacher speaks not only of attaining the Salt as the goal of the first phase, but the alchemist should attain the philosophical Mercury as well.33
The second engraving illustrates the operation of exaltation, under which the processes of sublimation, elevation and distillation are also understood.34 Elevation and
exaltation are actually different terms for the same process, namely altering the
matter to a purer and higher level, and sublimation and distillation are two methods to make this happen.
die Solution, Desolution, und Resolution, auch die Digestion, und Circulation. Die vierte Figur, helt in sich die Multiplication, dabei ach verstanden, das Ascendirn Lavirn, Inbibiren, Cohobirn, auch Coagulieren,
Figirn, Augmentiern, Tingiern.”
30 The text actually reads cummendiren, which is translated into commendation by Leonardus Thurneiser, who
provided the only English translation of Michelspacher's work so far. However, this is not an actual
alchemical term and seeing that many passages from Michelspacher are copied from the works of Paracelsus and Paracelsus speaks of cementation, it is more likely that “cummendiren” refers to the process of
cementation. See: Leonhardt Thurneisser zum Thurn, Cabala in Alchemy (1667), British Library, Sloane MS 3676, London; Paracelsus, Of the Nature of Things. In: Sendivogius, A New Light of Alchymie.
31 Ruland, A Lexicon of Alchemy, retrieved at http://rexresearch.com/rulandus/rulxa.htm. 32 Pagel, Paracelsus, pp. 267-269.
33 “Erstlich hab ik einen so hoch auff Saphyer Farb durchscheinenden fewriger Art, mit viel weiβ ein
gesprembt, Spiegel gefunden, darin ich gesehen, der weissen Mercurii, und ihr Sal. So klar als hette ich diese in meiner Hand.”
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Elevation, is Rarefaction, when the spiritual portions of a substance are elevated from the corporeal portions, the subtle raised from the gross, the volatile from the fixed, in the form of a vapour, by the power of fire, and are condensed at the top of the vessel. Is is either dry or humid. Dry Elevation (vulgarly, Sublimation) is a process by which the subtler dry parts are elevated, with adherence to their proper vase. (…) The Humid Elevation (vulgarly known as Distillation) is the rarified separation of the moist parts into vapour away from the dry and crude parts.35
All of these methods thus separate the subtle from the gross; the volatile from the fixed; the spirit and soul from the body. With other words, the principles of Mercury and/or Sulphur are separated from the Salt. In Michelspacher's case the process of elevation is only supposed to separate the Sulphur, as the Mercury and Salt are already acquired via calcination.
The third engraving illustrates the operations of conjunction, putrefaction, solution, dissolution, resolution, digestion and circulation. Conjunction is a process in which the congealed spirit (Mercury) is united with the dissolved body (Salt). In alchemical symbolic language it is often referred to as the marriage or copulation between man and wife. Rulandus further writes that “the commencement of the union is the calcination; then the Mercury calcines and triturates the bodies; coition takes place when the matter begins to become white; then the feminine seed coagulates; and there arises from both a third substance. Then this loses its individuality, and commences anew.”36 The conjunction is performed during the chemical process of putrefaction,
a cover term for the methods of dissolution, resolution and solution. The difference between the several methods then, is that dissolution takes place in a moist heat such as a sand- or water bath or dung, whereas solution (sometimes called sublimation) is a dry or philosophical putrefaction, performed in (philosophical) Mercury or vinegar.37
Resolution is similar to the process of solution, because a dissolving substance such
as vinegar of acid is applied to separate the matter.38 Circulation, then, is when a
substance is placed in a sealed vessel and by applying heat vapors will arise from the matter and condensate in the top of the vessel. After this the condensed vapors will return to the heated matter at the bottom of the vessel and the process will start from the beginning.39 And lastly, digestion is “the action by which a liquid body and a
35 Ruland, A Lexicon of Alchemy, retrieved at http://rexresearch.com/rulandus/rulxa.htm. 36 Idem.
37 Idem. 38 Idem.
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fluidic body are united, either wholly or in part, to extract their tincture, to modify them, to prepare them for dissolution or putrefaction, to cause them to circulate, and thus to volatilize the fixed and to fix the volatile by means of proportioned heat.”40
Thus, during this process the earlier extracted Mercury and Sulphur are combined (conjunction) and prepared for putrefaction, which generally speaking aims at opening out the matter and dissolving or digesting it by the application of external heat, which is actually nothing more than separating the pure from the impure, as the impurities sink to the bottom during putrefaction.41
Finally, the fourth engraving illustrates the operations of multiplication, ascension, lavation, imbibition, cohobation, coagulation, fixation, augmentation and tincture.
Multiplication or augmentation, is nothing more than multiplying the matter, so
that it can be used indefinitely by the alchemist.42 Ascension and cohobation both
are a form of distillation. During the first process the matter is sublimated into a vapor, whereas the second method is a process of soaking the matter in liquid and then removing the wetness by distillation.43 Lavation, commonly known as dealbation
(whitening), is the washing of the Laton, “a certain state of the philosophical matter when the red color has appeared, but is not yet permanently acquired,” and its goal is to remove all impurities.44 Imbibition, then, is adding a liquid to the residue in order
for it to soak or saturate in it.45 Through coagulation a fluid matter condensates into
a solid state, whereas fixation makes a volatile substance fixed.46 The final goal of all
these chemical processes is the tincture, the “treasure of treasures,” which is the medicine the alchemist sought.
1.5. Conclusion of the First Chapter
The Cabala, then, is a representation of the whole alchemical magnus opus, explaining all of its operations, the substances which are to be used during these processes, as will become more clear in the following chapters, and the signs the alchemist should be aware of during these operations, indicating if the transmutational process is going to be successful. Although my intention is to provide an explanation as to how the Cabala
40 Ruland, A Lexicon of Alchemy, retrieved at http://rexresearch.com/rulandus/rulxa.htm. 41 Idem.
42 Idem. 43 Idem.
44 Waite, The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, p. 363; p. 371. 45 Linden, The Alchemy Reader, p. 88.
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is a prime example of practical alchemy, it should be noted that other interpretations of this treatise and its accompanying illustrations are possible. In the following chapters, however, I attempt to explain the basic alchemical principles shown in these four figures and interpret them accordingly.
18
Figure 1. First engraving, entitled “Mirror of Art and Nature”. From Stephan Michelspacher,
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Chapter 2.
The First Engraving:
1. Spigel der Kunst und Natur
Spiegel der Kunst und Natur, the first engraving of the Cabala, illustrates the
operation of calcination according to Michelspacher. During the process of calcination, the body (Salt) is separated from its soul (Sulphur) and its spirit (Mercury), making it possible to remove the body from the matter. Michelspacher further mentions that during the first stage, not only its body or Salt is to be collected, but the spirit or philosophic Mercury too. Alchemical concepts such as prime matter and ultimate matter, the azoth and vitriol are discussed in the following chapter, an explanation is given about color symbolism, the significance of the planets and the difference between the ‘wet path’ and the ‘dry path’ of alchemy, and an interpretation is given about the first engraving.
2.1. Color Symbolism in Alchemy
The first engraving (fig. 1), sharing the same title as the book itself, consists of three horizontal and two vertical parts, combined into one image. In the middle of the top section a coat of arms is illustrated. It is likely that this is not a personal or ancestral coat of arms, but should actually be read alchemically. The coat of arms consists of a shield, a helmet with a torse or wreath and a crest. The shield is divided into quarters and although the engravings are not colored, the patterns of dots and small lines likely represent colors. If we consult a standard work on heraldry, it appears that the second and third quarters are then golden and bear three roundlets in the colors white, black
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and red, while the other two parts of the shield are colored blue and silver.47 The
mantling behind the helmet is barred and appears to bear the colors red, white and black, similar to the quarters on the shield. Above the helmet the crest is placed, which consists of a crown and wings, and on the wings we see the exact same circles as on the second and third quarters off the shield. The figure between the wings seems to wear the same colors as on the first and fourth quarters off the shield and shows seven small arrows pointing in different directions.
Color is a potent element in visual language, as it is in alchemy. There are several distinct stages in the alchemical transmutational process and the use of color is one way to identify the different stages. White, black and red are recurring colors in this engraving as they are the three major colors in alchemy. They represent the stages of
albedo (white), rubedo (red) and nigredo (black). The first colored stage the alchemist
encounters is the stage of nigredo or blackness. Nigredo is the result of putrefaction or decomposition. The prepared substance is placed in a closed vessel, hermetically sealed, and placed in either warm compost or a warm water bath, to prevent the material from overheating. It induces fermentation and stimulates digestion, resulting in a black mass, marking the “death” of the prepared substance. It is the first sign that the transmutational process is going accordingly.48 Upon reaching the nigredo stage,
a continued heating is applied over the following weeks, which starts another change in the color. This stage is called cauda pavonis, or the “peacock’s tail”, because the blackness is “replaced by a multitude of short-lived and often-changing colors… Gradually, the semiliquid mass grows lighter and lighter, finally becoming a brilliant white, the second of the primary colors of the Philosophers’ Stone”, and marks the completion of the White Philosophers’ Stone or White Elixir, also known as the albedo stage. The white material is yet again exposed to continued heating, after which it changes into the third primary color, red. This is known as the rubedo stage and indicates the final stage and completion of the Red Philosophers’ Stone or Red Elixir.49
All the elements in alchemical illustrations have a specific meaning or purpose, so even the colors themselves can tell us which metal to use or in which month the process should start.
47 Pama, Rietstaps Handboek der heraldiek, p. 69. 48 Haage, Dictionary of Western Esotericism, p. 17. 49 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 124.
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In his article Hermatic Heraldry, Rafal Prinke gives an overview of the colors and corresponding planets and metals, as shown below (Table 1).50 Returning to the first
engraving in Cabala, the colors gold, silver and blue appear besides the three primary alchemical colors. As mentioned before the pattern of dots indicate that these two quarters of the shield are golden. Therefore, both the color and the three roundlets (black, red and white) symbolize the components for making the Philosophers' Stone or gold. According to Prinke, the remaining quarters in silver and blue represent the “idea of interpenetration of the two opposing forces,” such as the female and male.51
There might even be other explanations. The blue and silver might indicate that tin is the substance used for the transmutation of metals in silver (argyropoeia), the alchemical process is supposed to take place in a month ruled by Jupiter, or even that the result of the whole process depicted in these engravings can result in either the metal silver or a tincture.
Colour Planet Metal Heraldic Colours
White or silver Moon Silver Argent (metal)
Grey or purple Mercury Mercury Purpure (tincture)
Green Venus Copper Vert (tincture)
Yellow Sun Gold Or (metal)
Red Mars Iron Gules (tincture)
Blue Jupiter Tin Azure (tincture)
Black Saturn Lead Sable (tincture)
Table 1. Colors and their corresponding planets and metals.
There are, of course, other details that suggest the coat of arms should be read alchemically. The three circles, for example, are similar to those on the shield from the engraving of the hermaphrodite in Thurneisser's Quinta Essentia (1574) and the arms from the final plate of the Mutus Liber (1677). Three is a significant number in alchemy and it possibly represents the three principles Mercury, Sulphur and Salt.
50 Prinke, ‘Hermetic Heraldry', p. 65. 51 Idem, p. 68.
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2.2. The Red Blood of the Lion and the White Gluten of the Eagle
Prinke explains that the shield is commonly accompanied by important alchemical symbols. 52 Illustrated beside the coat of arms are an eagle and a lion, who appear to be
in a combative position towards each other. The eagle and lion are common alchemical symbols, often representing the volatile and fixed state of the matter. Thomas Vaughan (1621-1666) wrote in The House of Light (1651) about the eagle and lion:
In a word, separate the Eagle from the Green-Lyon, then clip her wings, and you have perform'd a miracle ... the Eagle is the water, for it is volatil, and flies up in clouds as an Eagle doth, but I speak not of any common water whatsoever. The greene Lion is the body or Magicall earth, with which you must clip the wings of the Eagle, that is to say, you must fix her, that shee may fly no more.53
During the process of distillation, the matter is heated in a vessel, releasing vapors and these vapors are collected in a separate container as a basis for the following operations. In Of the Sum of Perfection, Geber tells us that the “special cause of that Distillation, which is made by ascent into the Alembeck, is the desire of acquiring water pure without Earth.”54 The earth is of course the remaining matter in the vessel,
whereas the vapors that are released during this process result in the purified water. This is exactly what Vaughan meant when he said that the wings of the eagle should be clipped after she was separated from the lion. The eagle (water) and lion (matter) are separated, i.e. vapors ascend from the matter, and fixing the eagle should be done by clipping its wings, i.e. collecting the vapors in a separate vessel where it will condense and turn into a liquid. It is interesting to note that Vaughan indicates that the eagle is female. This corresponds with Prinke's explanation that the eagle and lion represent two opposing forces, namely female and male.
Another explanation, however, is that the animals symbolize the White Gluten of the Eagle and the Red Blood of the Lion, as mentioned by Paracelsus in The Book
Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers:
Take only the rose-coloured blood from the Lion and the gluten from the Eagle. When you have mixed these, coagulate them according to the old process, and you will have the Tincture of the Philosophers.55
52 Idem, pp. 66-68.
53 Vaughun, Aula Lucis, or, The House of Light, pp. 17-18. 54 Linden, The Alchemy Reader, p. 89.
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In The Transmutation of Base Metals into Silver and Gold (1718), David Beuther explains that the Blood of the Red Lion is the Sulphur of the Sun and the Gluten of the White Eagle is synonymous for mercury.56 The Red Lion he speaks of is cinnabar,
which “in its first coagulation, appears to be red in color” Paracelsus wrote in his The
Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists. This Red Lion, or Sulphur of Cinnabar, is
prepared in the following manner:
Take mineral Cinnabar and prepare it in the following manner. Cook it with rain water in a stone vessel for three hours. Then purify it carefully, and dissolve it in Aqua Regis, which is composed of equal parts of vitriol, nitre, and sal ammoniac. Another formula is vitriol, saltpeter, alum, and common salt.57
The mineral cinnabar Paracelsus speaks of is obtained by combining common sulfur with common mercury, which coagulates into solid cinnabar (mercuric sulfide).58
Vitriol is either real vitriol, that is iron or copper sulfate, or a cover name for antimony ore.59 Niter or saltpeter (potassium nitrate) is a naturally found salt, as is sal ammoniac
(ammonium chloride). An eagle is shown in Valentine’s Second Key in Von dem
grossen Stein der Uhralten (1602), where it is equated with sal ammoniac and its
volatily, because of its ability to sublime, that is, when sal ammoniac is gently heated the salt vaporizes and condenses again, leaving a white salt in the cooler parts of the vessel. When saltpeter and sal ammoniac are mixed and heated in a retort in a furnace, a highly corrosive acid mixture is formed, which is able to dissolve gold. It is a type of
aqua regia, or aqua regis as Paracelsus calls it.60 Paracelsus further explains that the
cinnabar dissolved in aqua regis is to be distilled in an alembic with ‘a fire of the first degree’, putrefied for a month in horse-dung, so that the elements are separated and the ‘dead’ earth remains. This is the Red Lion. Paracelsus adds that the Red Lion transmutes itself into the White Eagle by adding fire to putrefaction and sublimation, whereafter the matter firstly appears black and turns into white. This White Eagle is actually mercury and the Blood of the Red Lion is the sulfuric component that remains in at the bottom of glass the vessel.61 According to Waite, the Red Lion is also called
Laton, reminding us of the operation of lavation, where the Laton is washed or
56 Beuther. The Transmutation of Base Metals into Silver and Gold. Retrieved at
http://rexresearch.com/beuther/beuther.htm
57 Waite, The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, p. 36. 58 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 36; p. 122.
59 Idem, pp. 119-120. 60 Idem, pp. 147-149.
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whitened.62 When the Red Lion is put in the pelican for further, where after the aurum
potabile or potable gold is formed. This gold is then sweetened with the alcohol of wine,
distilled in an alembic, creating the Oil of the Sun. After elevating and coagulation this three times, the Tincture or Quintessence of the Sun is produced. 63
2.3. Prima Materia and Ultima Materia
Above the head of the eagle and lion, we notice two short rhymes with the following text:
Cabala and Alchemy, O God help us to be grateful, Give thee the medicine most high. For this gift sublime and pure.
Also the Stone of the Wise, The man whose heart and mind Thou openest, In which alone the foundation lies. Who is perfect herein.
As is plain before thine eyes, To prepare here this Work, Betimes in these effigies.64 To him may all strength be given.65
On the left side of the coat of arms we see a man standing on the pillar of nature (Natur) holding the book of prime matter (Primat Materia) in his left hand and an aludel in his right hand, a glass vessel usually used for the process of sublimation. The man on the right is depicted on the pillar of art (Kunst) holding the book of ultimate matter (Ultimat Materia) in his right hand and a pelican in his left hand, a device used for the process of distillation. An inverted version of the image on the aludel seems to be illustrated in the pelican (fig.2).
62 Waite, The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. Vol. 2, p. 378. 63 Waite, The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. Vol. 1. p. 38.
Commentary by Waite on the difference between aurum potabile, Oil of Sun and Tincture of Sun: “Aurum
Potabile is gold rendered potable by intermixture with other substances, and with liquids. Oil of Gold is an
oil extracted from the precious metal without the addition of anything. The Quintessence of Gold is the redness of gold extracted therefrom and separated from the body of the metal.”
64 “Cabala und die Alchymei, Geben dir die hochste artzney. Darzu auch den weisen Stein, In dem das
fundament allein. Ligt, wie fur augen zu sehn ist, In disen figurn zu der frist.” Translation from: Klossowski de Rola, The Golden Game, p. 58.
65 “Ach Gott hilf das wir danckbar sei, Fur diese Gab so hoch und rein. Wenn du nun auf thuts hertz und fin,
Der da volkomen ist hierin. Zu bereitten hie Dises Werck, Dem sey gegeben alle Sterck.” Translation from: Klossowski de Rola, The Golden Game, p. 58.
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Figure 2. Two alchemists showing books concerning the prime and ultimate matter, while holding alchemical apparatus.
It appears that the pillars both men are standing on are connected to the image below their feet. Both images underneath them show men working in the mine, either hewing stone from the inside of the mountain (left) or sorting the extracted minerals outside the mountain (right). Interestingly, the man holding the book of prime matter looks at the reader and seems to be walking towards the man on the right, who appears to be standing still and whose face is directed at the other man. As explained in the previous chapter, Paracelsus believed that the Creation by God is the first example of Scheidung. However, during the Creation, God created matter in its ‘prime’ instead of its ‘ultimate’ form. According to Paracelsus, all objects are then to be perfected, as nature is in a process of transformation. This transformation is possible by the work of Vulcan, “an immanent virtue or power which works in the matrices (the traditional Elements)”, in which he is assisted by two other powers or principles, that is the Iliaster, “a type of primordial matter-energy which essentially is and expresses the entire potential of all nature”, and the Archeus, “a specific agent to impress the specific and individual attributes upon the elemental material world”. The work of Vulcan and the Archeus is often symbolically described by Paracelsus as the alchemist, perfecting prime matter into ultimate matter.66
The symbols depicted on the apparatus are somewhat difficult to decipher, because they do not correspond to commonly used alchemical glyphs. It could indicate a relation with borax or the salt of borax (sal borax). Borax is a dissolvent of all metals, as Paracelsus describes in A Manual of Paracelsus the Great.67 It is an artificial salt made from sal ammoniac, nitre, calcined tartar, sea salt and alum, dissolved in urine,
66 Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Paracelsus, p. 28.
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and it is known for its ability for soldering gold.68 In A Lexicon on Alchemy, Rulandus
even equates borax with the albedo stage, or the White Philosophers’ Stone.69 In the
pamphlet Medicinisch-Chymisch und Alchemististisches Oraculum (1755) we find an extensive list of chemical symbols and their Latin and German definitions. The symbol for borax (bolus communis or gemeiner Bolus) is . If we were to combine the symbol of borax with the common glyph for salt this would in theory result in a glyph similar to the image pictured on the aludel. Theoretically, this glyph could symbolize the salt of borax or the use of borax in the transmutational process as a whole, or even achieving the White Elixir or White Philosopers’ Stone.
Another explanation for the symbol is that it refers to Mars or iron in combination with salt and vitriol. Although Mars or iron is usually pictured as , the arrow points upwards in several alchemical writings such as in the earlier mentioned
Oraculum or Georg von Welling’s Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum (1735).
Although this might be a bit farfetched, we could also connect this image with the symbol of vitriol . Turning the glyph 90° counterclockwise, we have combined the three symbols of iron, salt and vitriol which correspond with ferrous (iron) sulfate or green vitriol, a significant element within alchemy and one of the possible ingredients described above for making the aqua regis. A third, and perhaps more plausible theory, is that both symbols in Michelspacher’s first engraving illustrate the fixed and the volatile, as “make the fixed volatile and the volatile fixed” was one of the key guidelines in the making of the Philosophers’ Stone.70 If we take a closer look at the image on the
aludel on the right, it appears that the bottom half of the circle is darker than the upper half, as if the circle is half filled with a substance. The arrow is pointed upwards, which could illustrate the chemical process of sublimation, a method used to purify matter or “make the fixed volatile”. The image on the pelican on the left shows an arrow pointing downwards, illustrating the “volatile made fixed”.
68 Quincy, Lexicon Physico-medicum, p. 54.
69 Ruland. A Lexicon of Alchemy. Retrieved at http://www.rexresearch.com/rulandus/rulxm.htm. 70 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 152.
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2.4. The Diagram of Azoth and Vitriol
In-between the mineworkers two diagrams are portrayed (fig. 3). Here we get some closer sense of what Michelspacher probably intended with his use of the term Cabala, for the circle on the left contains the alchemical words Vitriol and Azot in the center. Vitriol derives from the V.I.T.R.I.O.L.U.M acrostic “Visita interiora terrae rectificandoque invenies occultum lapidem verum medicinalum”, which translates as “Visit the interior of the earth and by rectifying thou shalt find the hidden true medicinal stone.”71 It underlines that the primal matter is found inside the earth, which
is portrayed by the two miners in the engraving.
Figure 3. Detail of the first engraving.
As for the word azoth, Paracelsus held that it is the universal medicine and the ultimate purpose of the alchemical work. Remembering that Michelspacher wrote Cabala from a Paracelsian standpoint, we could consider that the Cabala of Michelspacher is the Cabala of Paracelsus. The word azoth is formed of the first and last letters of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew alphabets: the A and Z, the Alpha and Omega, and the Aleph and Tau. Being the first letter of the alphabet in these three languages, the letter A corresponds with the primal matter at the beginning of the alchemical process, whereas the last letter of the alphabets symbolizes the ultimate matter or the completion of the Great Work. The term azoth therefore refers to the beginning and end of all things, and
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in a sense containing all that is in between. This, again, corresponds with the philosophers or alchemists illustrated on the pillars of Nature and Art, holding their books Primal Matter and Ultimate Matter. For the primal matter, found in nature, is the beginning of the Great Work, whereas the ultimate matter, the final goal of the alchemical work, is achieved by the art of alchemy, which is simply the imitation of nature.72 “You must use the venerable nature, because our art is generated from this,
through this, and in this nature. And therefore, our alchemical work is the workings of nature and not of the human will”, as Arnold of Villanova wrote in the Rosarium
Philosophorum (1550).73 In his Lexicon of Alchemy, Ruland explains that different
interpretations were given to the term azoth. It is, for example, synonymous with quicksilver or mercury, the Philosophical Stone, or the “mercury of philosophers”.74
Azoth is thus considered as a significant element for the alchemical work. This idea is confirmed through the placement of the words azoth and vitriol in the engraving. They appear in a geometrical image of a circle, square and triangle. The squaring of the circle is a well-known alchemical symbol occurring in numerous alchemical tracts, of which the twenty-first emblem in Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (1617) is probably the most famous (fig. 4). Heinrich Khunrath makes mention of it in Vom Hylealischen,
das ist Primaterialischen Catholischen oder Allgemeinen Naturlichen Chaos (1708)
and the frontispiece of Bernard Penot’s De Denario Medico (1608) depicts a minimalistic image of the “squared circle”. This “rotation of the circle”, as Maier termed it in his De Circulo Physico, Quadrato (1616), symbolizes the process of attaining the Philosophers’ Stone. It refers to Aristotle’s “Make of the Man and Woman a round Circle, and from that extract a Quadrangle, and from the Quadrangle a Triangle, and from the Triangle make a round circle, and you will have the Magistery”.75
The man and woman personify the opposites of male and female, Sun and Moon, in the sacred marriage wherein the spirit and the soul conjoin together to become one
72 Wamberg, Art & Alchemy, p. 32.
73 “Igitur venerabili utimini natura, quia ex ea, per eam et in ea generator ars nostra. Et ideo magisterium nostrum
est opus naturae et non opificis”. Villanova, reprinted in Artis Auriferae, vol. I, p. 143.
74 Ruland. A Lexicon of Alchemy. Retrieved at http://www.rexresearch.com/rulandus/rulxm.htm. See also
Holmyard, Alchemy, p. 151.
75 “Fac de Masculo & Fæmina Circulum rotundum, & de eo extrabe Quadrangulum, & de Quadrangulo
Triangulum, & de Triangulo fac circulum rotundum, & habebis Magisterium,” in: Khunrath, Vom
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body, also known as conjunction (coniunctio).76 Of this, Paracelsus wrote the following
in his The Aurora of the Philosophers (Aurora thesaurusque philosophorum, 1577):
There are also two matters of the Stone, Sol and Luna, formed together in a proper marriage, both natural and artificial. Now, as we see that the man or the woman, without the seed of both, cannot generate, in the same way our man, Sol, and his wife, Luna, cannot conceive, or do anything in the way of generation, without the seed and sperm of both. Hence the philosophers gathered that a third thing was necessary, namely, the animated seed of both, the man and the woman, without which they judged that the whole of their work was fruitless and in vain. Such a sperm is Mercury, which, by the natural conjunction of both bodies, Sol and Luna, receives their nature into itself in union … Hence the philosophers have said that this same Mercury is composed of body, spirit, and soul, and that it has assumed the nature and property of all elements.77
In The Secret Work of the Hermetic Philosophy (1650), the work of “a concealed author”, but supposedly written by Jean D’Espagnet, it is further explained that Sol and Luna, forming the philosophical Mercury, is then transformed into the four elements, which in turn produces Sulphur and lastly the Elixir:
The material means of the Stone are of divers kinds, for some are extracted out of others successively: The first are Mercury Philosophically sublimated … of the former the seconds are produced; namely the four elements, which again are circulated and fixed: of the seconds, the third is produced, to wit, Sulphur, the multiplication hereof doth terminate the first work: the fourth and last means are leaven or ointments weighed with the mixture of the things aforesaid, successively produced in the work of the Elixir. By the right ordering of the things aforesaid, the perfect Elixir is finished, which is the last term of the whole work, wherein the Philosophers' Stone resteth as in its centre, the multiplication whereof is nothing else than a short repetition of the previous operations.78
The geometric shapes thus symbolize the conjunction of Sol and Luna, or the philosophical Mercury (the circle), the four elements (the square) and the philosophical Sulphur (the triangle), whereas the circle in the center illustrates the Elixir or the Philosophers’ Stone.79 Rotating the circle is therefore synonymous with
the entire alchemical process according to Maier, wherefore it might represent the
76 Linden, ‘The Ripley Scrolls and The Compound of Alchymy’, p. 92.
77 Waite, The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, Vol. 1, pp. 65-66. 78 Dee, Fasciculus Chemicus: or chymical collections, pp. 202.
79 Chen-Morris, ‘From Emblems to Diagrams: Kepler’s New Pictorial Language of Scientific Representation’,
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azoth, as this is the beginning and end of all things.80 Interesting, as Michelspacher
turned the letter A of azoth into a stylized triangle in the first engraving, perhaps implying that the A of azoth is also the tria prima of Paracelsus.
Figure 4. Emblema XXI. In Michael Maier, Atalanta Fugiens.
Returning to the engraving in Cabala, two crowned serpents enclose the azoth and vitriol, forming a caduceus similar to the caduceus in the illustration of Basil Valentine’s Twelve Keys (1599).The caduceus is a famous symbol for Hermes, the messenger of the gods, in Greek mythology, and connected with the planet Mercury in Roman iconography, therefore symbolizing either the planet Mercury, quicksilver or the principle Mercury of the Paracelsian tria prima. However, the most plausible explanation for the crowned serpents, who appear to be hissing towards each other, is that they symbolize the philosophical Mercury. Nicolas Flamel (c.1330-1417) wrote about the two serpents, wrapped around a caduceus, in his Exposition of the
Hieroglyphicall Figures (1624):
These are the two Serpents, given and sent by Juno (that is, the nature Metallic) … These are the two Serpents, wrapped and twisted around about the Caduceus or rod of Mercury … these two I say, being put together in the vessel of the Sepulcher, do bite one another cruelly, and by their great poison, and furious rage, they never leave
80 Szulakowska, The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration, pp.
31
one another … and finally, killing one another, be stewed in their proper venom, which after their death, changeth them into living and permanent water.81
The Sepulcher is a reference to the philosophical egg (ovum philosophicum), a glass vessel in the shape of an oval body and a long neck, in which the substance is placed. The neck of the flask is sealed by melting the sides together, also known as the “seal of Hermes”, and then, for example, placed in a furnace for putrefaction, until the matter turns black (nigredo).82 The two serpents Flamel speaks off, changing “into living and
permanent water”, is referring to the philosophical Mercury, which is the first matter of the Great Work. Around the snakes the four elemental qualities are depicted – hot, dry, cold and moist – referring to Galen’s theory of the elements, where each element is connected to two of these qualities. Paracelsus rejected Galen’s medical system of wet, cold, dry and moist, wherefore the placements of these humors outside the mercurial caduceus show that Galen’s theory has no place in Paracelsian alchemy. The circle is furthermore divided into 360 degrees, showing the twelve regions of the zodiac, each region counting 30 degrees.
2.5. The Diagram of Four
Composed of three separate rings, the diagram on the right illustrates the four Aristotelian elements of earth (Erdt), water (Waser), air (Lufft) and fire (Feuer) in the outer sphere; the four pillars of medicine as described by Paracelsus in Das Buch
Paragranum in the second circle, namely Philosophy (Philosophiæ), Astronomy
(Astronomiæ), Alchemy (Alchimæ) and Virtues (Virtutes)83; and the four alchemical
substances sulphur, bismuth (Wismatt), vitriol and antimony (Antimonium) in the inner circle. In the middle of the diagram we find a square in which the planets are repeatedly represented in the following numbers: Venus twice, Mars twice, Jupiter twice, Saturn twice, Mercury four times, the Moon four times and the Sun once. If we look at the placement of the planetary symbols, it seems as though Saturn is connected with antimony, Mars with Sulphur, Jupiter with bismuth and Venus with vitriol. In
Offenbahrung Der verborgenen Handgriffe auff das Universal gerichtet (1624),
Valentine wrote that antimony is the bastard of Saturn, bismuth or marcasite the bastard of Jupiter and vitriol the bastard of Venus. Mars dissolved in the ‘red Oil’ turns
81 Flamel, Exposition of the Hieroglyphicall Figures, pp. 67-69. 82 Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, pp. 123-124.
