Adam Mclean's Study Course on Alchemical Sequences

Adam McLean's Study Course on alchemical sequences

Lesson Thirteen : Mylius Philosophia Reformata - part two

We have already noticed that twelve emblems 5-16 each bear the name of an alchemical process. This is expressed in the symbolism, but often in a far from obvious way. We will begin by trying to see how the essential idea of each of the processes is incorporated in the symbolism of the emblem. I will just choose here a few examples and leave the complete analysis of this part of the sequence as your first exercise in this lesson.

The first process, emblem 5, is Calcination, the burning or reducing of a substance to ashes. The main symbols here that reflect calcination are, of course, the flaming furnace and the crucible on the table.

The sixth stage, emblem 10, is not actually a process in itself, but refers to the four grades or degrees of heat. The four sun-headed women sit at a table on which are four zodiacal symbols, Ram - Aries, Scorpion – Scorpio, Scales – Libra, Goat – Capricorn. We should note that these zodiacal symbols are related to the four elements Aries – Fire, Libra – Air, Scorpio – Water, and Capricorn – Earth. So we are here considering four grades of fire each corresponding to an element. This might be a general ascending scale, related to the different subtleties of the elements, or it may be that the idea of the sandbath, waterbath, heating by air (indirect flame) and directly in the flame is being expressed here.

The seventh stage, emblem 11, is Congelation, the bringing together of the different parts of the work into one congealed mass. This can be a kind of boiling down, or reducing to a thick gel. Here it is shown symbolically by the alchemist tending his fire carefully so that the right temperature can work on his substance in the flask. In this appears a snake, perhaps indicating the beginning of the congelation. On the left a winged man points to the ground, which may indicate that he should lose his volatility and become earthy and congealed.

The eighth stage is Cibation, in emblem 12. Cibation is the process of feeding or nourishing the work. In the emblem this is alluded to by the symbol of the nursing mother at the lower vertex of the triangle.

You should now examine the rest of the emblems associated with processes, that is 5-16, and see if you can find the symbols that echo the process.

______Sequences - Lesson 13 Page 1 - This lesson is Copyright © Adam McLean 2001 Another influence on this part of the series in undoubtedly the Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine. We can immediately see some parallels and symbolic quotations of some of the keys. Thus emblem 5 quotes directly from the twelfth key.

Emblem 6 borrows from the fifth key

Emblem 7 uses the same symbolism as the second key.

Emblem 8 uses similar symbolism to the sixth key.

Emblem 9 uses much of the central symbolism from the fourth key.

Emblem 10 the four grades of heat draws on the seventh key.

Emblem 12 can be associated with the tenth key.

Emblem 13 links with the symbolism of the first key.

I leave it as an exercise for you to follow through these symbolic borrowings and see if you can find other associations with the twelve keys. If you can print out the images from both sequences and cut them down into card size, so you can move them around and associate them with their matching pairs. Try and identify all the points of symbolic contact.

Emblems 5 to 16 symbolically encapsulate an alchemical process of twelve stages. Much of this is familiar to us from earlier sequences, such as the Most precious gift of God and the Crowning of Nature, though with the Mylius we seem rather removed from a direct connection with laboratory processes, although his text deals with physical and allegorical parallels. Here, as with the Twelve Keys, we are presented with the alchemical process translated into an elaborate symbolic language. Underlying this constellation of symbolism, are the familiar stages of initial preparation of the prima matter, through the calcination, solution, separation and conjunction, then the blackening in the putrefaction, leading to the developing of a pure tincture in the exaltation and multiplication. As an exercise try and follow this process by paralleling it with the earlier sequences. The remaining set of twelve emblems 17-28

It might seem likely that the remaining set of emblems would directly correlate with the processes. You can try to form such associations as an exercise. I suspect you will not find any easy pairings between the first and second group of twelve emblems, and it may be that we have to adopt a somewhat different approach in order to penetrate through to some understanding of the second group.

There is one stage missing from the Ripley process outlined in his Twelve Gates which we looked at in the last lesson. Mylius inserted the "four grades of fire" and consequently left out the final stage, the Projection. One way of looking at this series is to see the final twelve emblems 17 - 28 as showing the Projection through many facets, as a kind of recapitulation of the entire process.

There is also a substructure to this group of twelve emblems. There are two immediately obvious triples. The first of these is 17 - 18 - 19

Emblem 17 shows a scene just above the surface of a lake. Here a female figure walks between the sun and moon. She bears symbols of five stars (the five other planets). At the corners are four winds. In Emblem 18, we have four globes of fire at the corners, while under the earth are the seven planets. Emblem 19 continues this imagery with the man and woman, standing on the lower Sun and Moon, supporting the earth, which bears within it the square and the triangle, the four and the three. This emblem is a direct quote from emblem 21 of Michael Maier’s Atalanta fugiens. Some other emblems in this series seem to borrow from the Atalanta fugiens. If you have time try to see which these are. It is not necessarily that there is a direct link, but rather that the engravers, who knew each other and worked for related printing houses, were influenced by each others work.

Here I have arranged them somewhat differently from the first triple. Emblems 24 and 25 are very similar, sharing the image of the bird above and the bird below, while Emblem 23 is a little more distantly related as it uses the imagery of the winged and the unwinged lions. This imagery of the fixed and the volatile lions, the bird flying and the bird on its back, the birds in the upper and the lower flask, are all working with the same symbolic intent but emblems 24 and 25 are more directly linked. Similarly with emblems 17 - 18 - 19, we can see a direct symbolic link between 17 and 18 and a more distant connection with emblem 19, thus I have placed 17 and 18 side by side with 19 placed below, forming the lower point of a triangular arrangement.

______Sequences - Lesson 13 Page 5 - This lesson is Copyright © Adam McLean 2001 The other two groups of three fall into similar patterns, though the symbolic associations are not so immediately obvious. Thus emblems 20 - 21 - 22 can be related together. 20 and 21 have a similar symbolic content, with a winged man watching over a scene. The first with a Sun and Moon child warming themselves around a fire, the second with a woman fleeing from a wild beast out of a forest. Mylius’ text here refers to the spirit (winged man), soul (fleeing woman) and body (beast). He presents the idea of the spirit tinging the soul and the soul the body.

The third emblem of the women apparently washing clothes, which we first see in the Splendor solis series and also in the Atalanta fugiens, does not immediately seem related to the other two. Mylius’ text makes this more clear as the women are dyeing or tinging cloth with colours, this being paralleled with the operations on metals.

______Sequences - Lesson 13 Page 6 - This lesson is Copyright © Adam McLean 2001 A similar thing is found with the remaining three emblems 26 - 27 - 28. Two are obviously related symbolically, 27 and 28, while the third is more distantly associated. In this case the triangle points upwards. Emblem 27 shows a woman nourishing her three children, while 28 shows a woman providing coins to three people. The text indicates emblem 26 as the augmentation of the stone, while 27 and 28 are the Multiplication of the triple stone and the Projection whereby the ancient science is effected.

17 18 20 21 23 26

19 22 24 25 27 28

Now, breaking the structure down into these subgroups could seem a bit arbitrary. There are, however, some internal details which may encourage us to work further with this approach. Examine in more detail the triple of emblems 23 - 24 - 25. Let us just note that the male lion in 23 stands with his left hind paw upon a stone, while in 24 the King points to a stone in the centre foreground, and in 25 the old man stands beside the furnace with his left foot upon a similar stone. There seems here to be a coherence to the symbolism on these three emblems, not merely some arbitrary association.

The various human figures in this last section of twelve emblems could be related to the planets. Obviously we have the Sun and Moon figures. Some of the female figures may be Venus, Mercury is obvious in emblem 26, as is Mars in emblem 27. The old man who appears in 25 could be Saturn. This may help a little towards our understanding of the symbolism in this sequence.

We can now see that the subsequence of the last twelve emblems symbolically explores the way in which the alchemical projection is able to manifest itself. Here we are not really dealing merely with laboratory substances, but with abstract spiritual and philosophical principles. Through the last group of emblems we move from the heights of the four elements in the cosmos, to the final emblem where the gift (symbolised as coins) is passed out into the world. The transmuting principle of alchemy (the philosophers' stone) incorporates in itself the essence of all things from the macrocosmic heights to the inner microcosmic aspects of the human soul. This purified essence can transform and spiritualise everything it touches.

This series began by introducing us, in emblems 1-4, to the prime matter and the four elements which must be worked upon through the twelve stages of the alchemical process, in emblems 5 - 16. At the final stage of Projection various spiritual forces must be brought into the work. This is articulated through showing a further series of twelve emblems 17 - 28. It helps us to see these are forming four groups of three. In the first group of three, 17 -18 - 19, the forces from the far corners of the cosmos are brought into the alchemical work. Next, as shown in 20 - 21 - 22, the soul must be tincted with the spirit and the body with the soul. Following this, in 23 - 24 - 25, the polarities which still exist, the volatile and the fixed, the winged lioness and the fixed lion, the red and the white sulphur as Mylius’ text states, the two birds, one flying upright, the other upside down, the king and queen, must all be worked together into one essence through the furnace with its two flasks. This essence is then given to Mercury to further transform in his triple furnace (in emblem 26) and this is passed on the female figures in emblems 27

This is a short, highly summarised, perspective on this sequence. This should give you some starting point from which to explore its mysteries further. The work itself is enigmatic. Rather than presenting us with a linear and easily graspable explanation, the symbolism is evocative and the emblems are constructed to bring together images in a way that challenges our minds with riddles and fills us with wonder and confusion as we perceive structure, but cannot entirely grasp what is being shaped in this sequence. We would really need to study Mylius text in relation to the imagery. Regrettably only a small part of his long book Philosophia reformata has been translated and published in English, and although the Latin text is not difficult, it is lengthy and requires a great deal of study. So we must content ourselves at this point with the symbolism as a thing standing by itself.

Through the two lessons devoted to this sequence we should now have some perception of the inner structure to the sequence and have a handle on what it is trying to communicate to us. Now perhaps we can at least appreciate this sequence in all its subtleties. The Mylius series is one of the most difficult and demanding and yet most attractive and alluring of alchemical sequences. I still find after nearly thirty years working with this sequence that every time I come back to study and muse on it, I find something, some connection, some inner structure, that I have not seen before. I hope you will find this sequence as fascenating as I have.