Thanks R. Sale, this emblem (same source as my example) shows exactly the difference. Depicted is the ( spiritual ) substance Azoth dissolved from the material, from which one wants to crystallize the philosopher's stone. Sol and Luna probably stand for gold and silver here.
P.S.: Practically, according to Johannes de Rupescissa, Azoth could also be the so-called "Mercurial water" (a mercury-vitriol mixture).
The caption quotes a famous passage from the Rosarium Philosophorum: "Make a circle from a man and a woman, make a square from them, and a triangle from the square: make a circle out of this and you will have the philosophers' stone".
Obviously the diagram follows this succession: the order, crucially, is from the outside to the inside.
P.S.: Practically, according to Johannes de Rupescissa, Azoth could also be the so-called "Mercurial water" (a mercury-vitriol mixture).
The caption quotes a famous passage from the Rosarium Philosophorum: "Make a circle from a man and a woman, make a square from them, and a triangle from the square: make a circle out of this and you will have the philosophers' stone".
Obviously the diagram follows this succession: the order, crucially, is from the outside to the inside.