The Secrets of Alchemical Symbols



Vitriol from Musaeum Hermeticum

This alchemical mandala is used as a teaching device much in the same way Tibetans used yantras. By meditating on this image the initiate brings together in his mind the recipe "VITRIOL", the symbolic powers of numbers one through seven and many astrological and mythological signs. At the very center of the picture is the face of an alchemist. This places him at the point of totality, the place where things arise and return to his consciousness. One is the symbol of identity. Out of the one issues the archetypal pair of royal opposites: the Solar King of masculine consciousness and the Lunar Queen of feminine consciousness. Each can be seen on either side of the diagram. The King sits on the back of a lion and the Queen is mounted upon a whale or dolphin. The elements of earth and water are shown as the hill beneath the lion and the ocean from which the giant fish emerges. The large, inverted triangle outside the main circle indicates the realms of Body, Soul and Spirit. Body is at the very bottom represented by the cube of earth surrounded by five planets, Soul (anima) is positioned in the upper left hand angle accompanied by an image of the sun, and spirit is in the right angle above a picture of the moon. Earth and water elements that occupy the bottom corners of the diagram are completed with the salamander, the elemental creature of fire, and a bird symbolizing air in the upper right hand corner. Thus, we have all four elements represented. The alchemist's body presents us with five elements. His left foot is in the water, his right in the earth element, his left hand holds a feather (indicating air) and his right hand is shown with a torch (fire). Finally, above the alchemist's face, at the very top of the diagram is a pair of outstretched wings. These represent the ultimate spirit, or quintessence. The number six is found in a combination of two triangles, one drawn directly on the alchemists face and the other as the larger triangle already described in the number three. The inner triangle represents Salt which corresponds to the cube of earth, Sulphur relates to the solar forces and Mercury, in this case, refers to the lunar spirit. Seven finds its place in three locations: The seven-pointed star of the planets, representing evolution of consciousness Vitriol, the seven lettered recipe that symbolically describes the operations needed to complete the opus The series of circles within each of the angles of the seven-pointed star. These pictures describe the cycle from nigredo through metamorphosis to final resurrection. Taken as a whole this mandala is an exercise in imagining the critical elements of the work, what they represent and most importantly how they come together in the mind of the alchemist.

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