Let’s talk about shadow and light, now.
Mind that between Alchemy and Theurgy the meanings of the light/shadow pair could be extremely different.
I’m interested in understanding if there could be some common ground, though. For example, the figures of Horus and Seth, from ancient Egyptian mythology, are a classic example of light and shadow…
I just know that, despite their rivalry, Horus and Seth didnʼt embody antagonist powers but were considered almost complementary.
At the end of their furious battle, they were assigned two reigns: Horus, the Lower Egypt (the north), and Seth, Upper Egypt (the south). This
event was enacted during the pharaoh crowning ceremony when
the “union of the two lands” took place. On the day of his death, the pharaoh was taking the way to the sky around the lands of Horus and Seth. The contention between light and shadow, though different, was mutual. Thus the “two fighting brothers” were assigned two kingdoms: the above and the below.
In Alchemy the crowning ceremony is a metaphor for the recreation of Genesis. The meeting of earth and sky is there.
Wait. The complementarity between light and darkness, between above
and below, was so difficult for the ancient Egyptians that they used a means of union between the two.
In fact, according to alchemists, on the principles involved in the pair earth/sky three principles are established: one light, the other darkness, and a third which brings about the mixture of these two principles, which mixture could not take place without a third principle, since two opposing and hostile principles never mix by themselves. This third principle, which combines them together, is superior to darkness/earth as it is inferior to light/sky, and the result of this mixture is the world. Then, yes, we have three different entities. However, at this point, alchemists no longer speak of three lights, but of three salts. In fact, salt is synonymous with substance.
Are we talking about lights as brightness or what?
In Alchemy, we donʼt imagine these lights as “bright”, but only “powerful”.
Also in Greek mythology they used the words “radiant” and “shining” not in the sense of luminous but in the sense of “powerful”.
In fact, Zeus was called the “radiant” for his power and not for his brightness. For alchemists, as well for the pre-Socratics, Hellenic gods were personifications of natural powers.
What is the difference between LUX and LUMEN?
Lux and Lumen are two latin terms. Lux means splendor (and we have seen how splendor indicates power, rather than brightness). Lumen means brightness from an earthly source, such as a lamp, window, or even a glance (so, by lumen, we mean an earthly power). From an alchemical point of view, both are substances, but the first can ignite the second.
Yet we haven’t even talked about north and south yet. Are they synonymous with sky and earth? In Theurgy, the north is the Netherworld, the south is earthly life. The east is resurrection, the west is death.
It may seem strange to you, but the alchemical symbolism in this case is much more complex, because it brings together many analogies with the same symbol. For example, the north always represents the pole star, around which everything revolves, but it is also synonymous with the Mercurius, which is precisely a magnet of the North Star.
Why do alchemists say they can extract the shadow from its ray?
They say it in the sense of being able to extract the earth from the sky, or the ray from the spark, or the sun from the moon, if you prefer. Ultimately, to give a body to what has no body. Of course, before this operation of embodiment, alchemists took care to remove the body from that which had a body.
Removing the body of something that has a body seems like a risky operation of spirit removal…
On the contrary: for an alchemist, removing the body is a process of reduction to Prima Materia, first matter, through the destruction of the structure. It’s called the “black operation” or Nigredo, and involves the release of the life spirit. Therefore, in Alchemy, there is no procedure more “spiritual” than the destruction of the outer cortex.
And then, I mean when the spirit comes out what happens?
When the spirit has emerged, the alchemical light of Mercurius appears. That is the signal.
Finally, I have to ask you if alchemists also recognize the importance of the union of the superior and the inferior. It seems to me you also say, “What is above is as what is below”…
In Alchemy the process begins from below, from earthly matter. More precisely, from the creation of a “magnet” that attracts the higher. Trying to make an attempt to explain why, I can only reply that the spirit that comes out of earthly matter, the Mercurius, besides being a magnet, is also in close analogy with the Spiritus Mundi, the spirit of the world, which belongs to the sky.
I noticed that you alchemists say the sky and not heaven…
We alchemists believe that the sky is greatly underestimated. Like the earth’s raw material on the other hand.
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