Post by Mlle Bienvenu on Feb 12, 2005 18:12:44 GMT -5
This is a repost of something I wrote on AS boards. The question was what does the FMA symbol mean? (the cross with the Snake with crown and wings. I did some poking around and decided it was a combination of two symbols. Flamel's crucified serpent symbol and the cauduceus (Herme's Staff) with the addition of wings and a crown...
caduceus
The caduceus is the magical staff of Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods and revealer of alchemy. The staff is entwined by two serpents representing the solar and lunar forces. Their union is the Conjunction of alchemical principles and their offspring, if it lives, is the Stone. This Stone is represented as a golden ball with wings at the top of the caduceus.
crown
The crown symbolizes the successful completion of an alchemical operation or the achievement of a magisterium. It also signifies chemical royalty or the perfection of a METAL. (emphasis mine)
From www.alchemylab.com/dictionary.htm
I'm having trouble finding out anything on wings... but this is the closest I've come so far
the following refers to the final phase in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone...
...That is why it would be better to translate rubedo as "work in the purple"rather than "work in the red."The purple results from the union of light and darkness, a union which marks the victory of light. Purple is the royal color. It is also, according to Suhrawardi, the color of the wings of the archangel who presides over the fate of humanity, whenever a wise man discovers the sacredness of all things; the archangel has soiled one of his wings with shadow; the "Silent One," by his presence alone, brings together the white wing with the black wing and unites them in the purple.
( and later... )
If one adds that prana is related to the sun and apana to the moon, it is not difficult to see their opposition as an aspect of the duality Sulphur-Mercury, and particularly of the two birds one of which, being "volatile," has wings, and the other, being "fixed," does not, and whose perpetual interaction must be utilized and conciliated by Art. But it is not so easy to say exactly what the texts refer to in speaking about the "fixed" and the "winged" which, in the real of human alchemy, might be transposed into respiratory techniques.
from www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/3474/alchemy.html
caduceus
The caduceus is the magical staff of Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods and revealer of alchemy. The staff is entwined by two serpents representing the solar and lunar forces. Their union is the Conjunction of alchemical principles and their offspring, if it lives, is the Stone. This Stone is represented as a golden ball with wings at the top of the caduceus.
crown
The crown symbolizes the successful completion of an alchemical operation or the achievement of a magisterium. It also signifies chemical royalty or the perfection of a METAL. (emphasis mine)
From www.alchemylab.com/dictionary.htm
I'm having trouble finding out anything on wings... but this is the closest I've come so far
the following refers to the final phase in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone...
...That is why it would be better to translate rubedo as "work in the purple"rather than "work in the red."The purple results from the union of light and darkness, a union which marks the victory of light. Purple is the royal color. It is also, according to Suhrawardi, the color of the wings of the archangel who presides over the fate of humanity, whenever a wise man discovers the sacredness of all things; the archangel has soiled one of his wings with shadow; the "Silent One," by his presence alone, brings together the white wing with the black wing and unites them in the purple.
( and later... )
If one adds that prana is related to the sun and apana to the moon, it is not difficult to see their opposition as an aspect of the duality Sulphur-Mercury, and particularly of the two birds one of which, being "volatile," has wings, and the other, being "fixed," does not, and whose perpetual interaction must be utilized and conciliated by Art. But it is not so easy to say exactly what the texts refer to in speaking about the "fixed" and the "winged" which, in the real of human alchemy, might be transposed into respiratory techniques.
from www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/3474/alchemy.html
