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+--- Thread: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS (/thread-1745.html)
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - bi3mw - 11-07-2021
Thanks Linda for the reference. From his portfolio of themes I rather doubt that he is the artist I am looking for.
Maybe Adam McLean will answer the question.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Barbrey - 03-08-2021
Thanks for sending the link to this discussion, bi3mw! Wow, you're interpreting a lot of the symbolism exactly the same way as me. And I have more, in this section, the rosettes page, and a little in the astrology section. Moreover, I too have been using Leah as my touchstone for interpretation though directly from Rupescissa translated into English as well.
I've been trying to organize into a coherent essay, but it's very difficult for me because so much explanation is needed for every symbol, every illustration, and I also don't have a good photo program or skills. I also have charts! Hand-drawn
Everything is interconnected.So...would you like to co-author the article with me? This honestly has the potential to break the text wide open, especially once you see my charts (I hope - I have been dying to share these with someone). Koen is also right, there are other things going on in the balneological section of a philosophic, religious and even literary nature - but still connected. I've suspected but I'm not yet convinced, though it should definitely be pursued, of the block of text - I really need to read it through in English translation while looking at the illustrations to decide one way or another.
If you'd do the photos, diagrams, I'd do the biblio and citations!
This is likely bigger than the balneological section, for the simple reason the entire celestial system is made of quintessence too. Rupescissa's "heaven".
I can show you how that works on the rosettes page. Look at that quotation about quintessence surrounded by the four elements from Leah, then take a look at the little clock-like symbol bottom left side of the rosettes page.
These elements outside the rosettes themselves, constitute the pre-existing universe before the cosmos was created. It's our " frame story". We have an empty path (to the higher heaven, where the invisible prime mover resides), that little clock like symbol (aether/elements) and a striated mound. Two suns personifying God's movement.
The symbol inside our " clock" is the symbol for aqua vitae, the water of life, identical to aether or quintessence. I saw this in a chart, but didn't know the symbol's provenance. Searcher supplied the answer. It's from Basil Valentine's symbols. Basil was originally thought to be a 15th century character, but likely much later. Still, in the period we're talking about, although alchemists usually had their own secret symbols, Basil got the symbol from somewhere, and if passing himself off as a 15th century alchemist, he'd likely try to use symbols from that period. So I am going with this symbol.
Now look at the circle around the symbol. It is round. And marked lll__lll__lll in a repeating pattern.
Quintessence, according to Aristotle, is like a fine, subtle liquid but lighter than air.. Everything in heaven is made of it, including planets, stars, etc., and even the spheres in which they circle. The only thing that gives them form so they can be distingushed is they differ in density.
Unlike the other elements, which move in straight lines, quintessence moves in circles.
Hence the circle.
Now look at the pattern on the circle: Ill__lll__lll. Straight lines.
If I hadn't seen this elsewhere, I might have missed it. But these are the four elements. The author leaves a space for air. (Sidenote: aiii ?)
So go back to the quote from Leah about quintessence surrounded by the four elements. We have a perfect symbol of that description in our clock symbol.
Shift over to our mound. Matter. Which includes all five elements. It's a moving picture story: our V went counterclockwise to appear as matter, our sun as God went clockwise to sort out the elements. Two of them spring out - as straight lines.
Big bang. Or Aristotle's refined-upon version of it.
Moving into the rosettes proper: take a look at the two little symbols beside the top left sphere. One looks like disconnected donuts. Spheres. Quintessence moving in circles. The other looks like a pot - which, as a student once of anthropological cosmogonies - is almost a universal symbol of form or body. Mortal clay and all that.
God creates the heavens by giving form (the pot) to quintessence (the doughnuts). Our little "star" ladies, planets, everything above the sky really, and souls. That's why you usually see them in buckets, another symbol of form (but of varying densities, hence the decorations - all made of the same "stuff" but of infinite variety).
On the other side of the central top sphere, we see the earth being created by the "word" but I won't elaborate here, except to point out that almost everywhere you see the gold colour from now on, it indicates quintessence. Heaven and earth are created.
If you want my charts, you'll see how I've labeled every sphere, all a part of the central cosmos, not circulating outside them. The four spheres connected to the cosmos constitute the four sections of our text, and the four primary contributers to our pharmacy bottles/temples. Caelum (astrology, top middle), Animaluis or Corpus (The Body, right middle), Vegetabilis (Herbal, bottom middle), and Homo (The Human Soul), left middle. These in a sense are our phenomena, and what every doctor or pharmacist considered or consulted when treating/prescribing.
But our noumena - the hidden actors or operations - exist in the corners. These correspond to alchemical processes, hermetism and religion - in a cycle. At top right, we have the "Word", earthly creation (and Theurgy?); bottom right, Mineralis, foundation (Alchemy); bottom left, death or Dissolution (Necromancy?); top left, Resurrection/Immortality - the Philosopher's Stone/Apophatic Jesus (Theology?). There are alchemical terms that mirror these processes but I would need to verify them to see if that is in fact happening.
I can match all these spheres, mostly correctly I think, to the symbols of the text. I'm not going to explain here how I got these categories, it was a lot of reading, much of it hermetical and philosophical, and with reference to number symbolism of the time period. I also know Greek myth extremely well. It was only afterwards that I realized the four main categories - what I call phenomena - matched the parts of the text.
But I had to explain them so you'll see what I see if you look at the rosettes and read this closely.
Where is the quintessence? Everywhere.
Look at Vegetibilis. Bottom middle. In a seven-petaled Flower wheel to symbolize the seasons. Only three of the petals/spokes are gold. You need to distill the plant to get at the quintessence.
Look at Mineralis. Bottom right. A literal " field of gold" there upon the pillars of the earth. But our alchemist is not really interested in metals so this is sidelined. Still, this is the 'hidden' process, alchemy as a category, and gives us a hint regarding our fifth element. Because we see the lll__lll__lll sequence again in that funnel-shaped thing on the right side. But it has changed. We now have lll_•_lll_•_lll. Quintessence has joined fire, water, earth and air as a dot in the middle of air. Something to be distilled.
The same sequence is a band around one of the baths in the balneological section. A "mineral" or "elemental" bath, but likely it's the minerals/elements taking the bath.
The Human Soul, left middle, poised between death and resurrection, all gold petals. Did I mention quintessence forms the soul as well?
I won't go on. This is a huge essay in the making unfortunately and it exhausts me just thinking about it.
Quintessence, celestial and terrestrial, organizes the entire text in my opinion.
Anyway, pm me regardless of your answer.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Barbrey - 04-08-2021
Also, that dot appears a number of times in the rosettes, usually in what I think of as a block of air.
So take a look at 57v, with its number 5 at the bottom of the page, and its dot in the circle at the centre of the rosette silhouette.
Quintessence. V-shaped symbol. Fifth element.
5 at the very centre of our "alphabet" wheels, possibly dictating the text. If I didn't think someone else must have already tried this, I might be looking at the rosettes as a typical magic square right about now. I might anyway, because I'm pretty sure of the rest of the numbers matching each sphere, and the glyph they go with, on the rosettes, though have to adjust now.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - RenegadeHealer - 26-08-2021
@Barbrey, if you (± bi3mw) end up publishing this with illustrations, I can't wait to read it.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - bi3mw - 06-03-2022
In the VMS there are several representations in which obviously substances are separated.
Here the comparison to a "normal" representation in the "Liber de secretis naturae seu de quinta essentia"(1498, Pseudo-Lull):
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RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Scarecrow - 06-03-2022
I wouldn’t use the word “obviously” on about anything related to VMS, but I do like
your idea. Could make sense.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - bi3mw - 06-03-2022
(06-03-2022, 03:04 PM)Scarecrow Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I wouldn’t use the word “obviously” on about anything related to VMS, ...
Ok, you're right.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Aga Tentakulus - 06-03-2022
Certainly interesting if you are looking for connections.
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - bi3mw - 06-03-2022
@Aga: Can you provide a source ?
RE: Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS - Aga Tentakulus - 07-03-2022
Unfortunately, this is no longer possible with old images in my file.
I only have the newer examples with links to the origin.