There is a lot going on in Pieter van Laer's 1630s "Self-Portrait with Magic Scene" (e.g. #earlymodern#alchemy and #magic, and #books). But have a look at the paper cone in the right foreground of the painting. Likely seeds or #peppercorns are spilling out. This is relevant for #PaperHistory and #BookHistory, dear #histodons.
Paper was used for more than just writing, drawing, and printing, as #histodons of #EarlyModernEurope know. Paper was mainly used for wrapping purposes too, as I said here in my introduction to the volume "The Paper Trade in Early Modern Europe. Practices, Materials, Networks"
When I do divination work with the goddess I feel like a mystic.
When I seal a soul into a crystal under her guidance I feel like a magician. But they are both Alchemy.
The 14th international programme gilm - more than 70 films across cinema screenings, moving-image exhibitions, live performances, and a Festival Ceilidh. Fun, friendly and challenging. Kicks off May 2.
How does The Absolute, or the One, fit into the Alchemical schema? I woke up at 4 am asking myself this question. Here is the goddess' answer from my meditation:
Alchemy can be said to mean transformation. The Absolute, or in Kemetic terms, Kheper the new rising sun, is the opposite principle. It is the self-created and unchanging. But it is also more. It is a “push” towards transformation.
Where does this push come from? And how is it and the static aspect of Kheper symbolized in the alchemical process?
For a transformation to be conceived there must be an unchanging base for it to stand upon otherwise it can't be distinguished as a change. It would then be flux within flux and therefore invisible and unknowable.
The Absolute then is the necessary background condition of transformation. The symbol for this necessary condition in Alchemy is the retort or crucible.
The container is the Condition under which the transformation takes place. It is the unchanging venue where the dynamic action unfolds.
The retort is often stylized as a globe, skull or other “roundness” (like the Kheper beetle) to emphasize the static unchanging property.
As I mentioned, it is not just the enclosing necessary Condition that represents The Absolute, but Kheper's push, the impulse that precedes transformation.
The impulse is symbolized by a geometric line or angle. The dung beetle pushes his dung ball solar disc in a given direction. These lines of force combined are emblematic of abstract structure. The structure is, of course, the shape of the alchemical vessel.
So we have the shape and the containment properties of the vessel taken together as symbolizing Kheper or The Absolute.
To join the two aspects into one is the symbolic paradox of “squaring the circle”.
In my own practice the precisely angular crystal is incorporated into the cylindrical resonating chamber of my divining apparatus.
Hathor, Min and their union in Copper mining and divinatory activities:
The mine shaft represents the vagina of the goddess and the digging chisel the phallus of the god. The seam of copper is the God’s fiery semen and turquoise/malachite is the mercurial effluvium of the Goddess- the Water of Life. Quartz is the earthly product of their copulation and represents the divinatory power of desire. The three mineral substances are analogically connected with the Alchemical elements:
Copper-Sulphur
Turquoise/Malachite- Mercury
Quartz- Salt
Scissor Dance: The Menstruum of Silver and Gold, 2009
"How many angels must cry for silver and gold?"
Lenny Kravitz
"I remember a funny dreamer in Leipzig who pretended that gold, which is a pure fire, could not be opened or made potable except by another pure fire. In so saying he was not wrong, and it is so in truth. But I asked him what he understood by the fire that was to dissolve gold. He did not wish to tell me but said that it was a fire that only lights but does not burn. Now I well remembered that Paracelsus also wrote of such a fire, but whether that dreamer understood what was meant by it, I doubt very much, for in such a fire the angels and good spirits are also transformed."
When discussing Sol and Luna as alchemical symbols Jung has Sol as the masculine principle and Luna as the feminine.
My transformation is opposite. I have become lunar man bathed in the desire (light/heat) of my solar goddess #Hathor .
In alchemy, the green lion devouring the sun represents how aqua regia (a potent acid) can dissolve and purify base matter - first step of the alchemical Great Work. It also symbolizes how purifying one's shining ego is needed for spiritual enlightenment.
Unveil the secrets of prosperity with "Abundance Alchemy: Transforming Prosperity Through the Power of Oils" eBook. Explore the use of essential oils for financial abundance through rituals, spells, and daily practices. Learn about the most powerful oils and discover how to apply their magic to manifest wealth. Available in PDF and EPUB formats.
“The Bull of My Mother” is a phrase and epithet related to the reincarnation of a Kemetic pharaoh through the intercession of a Goddess.
A similar theme is also found in the Alchemical notion of the killing and rebirth of the King through the Queen in the vessel containing the “Water of Life” during the transformational Great Work.
This incestuous relation, that Jung called Mysterium Coniunctionis, present in both, probably has a common origin in the older Kemetic sources or even more remote regional mythology.
The awe inspiring and alien relation can be interpreted simply as the single Goddess representing both the protective nurturing mother type (cow) and the atttractive desire inducing daughter type (cobra). The relation is manifested in organic life as puberty when the intense sexual desire leads away from the cradling arms of the mother. Both the Kemetic and Alchemical relations point to an initiation ritual of union with the Goddess.
Dive into prosperity magic with the "Abundance Alchemy" eBook! Explore the power of essential oils for financial abundance over nearly 70 pages. Learn about potent oils, blending techniques, rituals, and daily practices to attract wealth. Available in PDF and EPUB formats. Embark on a transformative journey to wealth with ancient wisdom and modern strategies.
I know it seems strange that an African Goddess brought me to alchemy, unionism and anarchism but there it is. The path of transformation is certainly unexpected. My body is becoming gold.
Great #Yin overcomes great #Yang. (#Tao Te Ching) ☯️
Tiptoe through the Tulips (Tiny Tim)
Grasp or let go, #choose and know which works ...
In other words, be a #poet not a know-it, Be a #fantasy of your own #alchemy
and ...
**Enjoy the ride, day, wandering, nature and so onward ... **💫