When we speak of light in Alchemy we cannot forget Grosseteste. But is he referring to common light or “uncommon” rays?
Grosseteste considers light as the first corporeal form. Actually, for him, light is neither the first corporeal form nor the primordial matter, but it is the imprint of Divinity in nature which, in order to give form, must unite with the primordial matter. In any case, the light that gives shape cannot be ordinary light, since it works best in the dark.
Grossetesteʼs spheres multiply starting from a “One” to arrive at the “multiple” in a way astonishingly analogous to the Neoplatonic doctrines on Unity and the multiple…
Not only did Grosseteste speak of “spheres”, but they are a recurring element in many ancient diagrams on the representation of the cosmos. In some systems sound is involved, in others light. We now take them for granted as metaphysical entities, without however being able to understand what they really are. Grosseteste gives the “spheres” properties of reflection, which might make one think of light, but we remain perplexed by the characteristic of “multiplication”.
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