Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

[pjburkshire]

I don't think it's quite that simple. I would see distillation as just one of the, let's say seven, stages of the alchemical process. So you would have to transfer the imagery of Q13 to these stages. This is partly possible, but it does not (yet) result in a coherent sequence. I would also assume that the "great work" here is not gold but a kind of "burnt water". If that is the case, the stages would not be transferable 1:1 anyway ( multiple distillation ? ).

I know about the desire to turn lead into gold but I never heard of "burnt water".  Is "burnt water" some kind of holy water?