Let us delve further into this supposed “movement” of the supposed “alchemical light”. If it were to follow the trail of something, or be reflected in or revolve around something, I am reminded of one of the rare occasions when Plato speaks of light: when he recounts the Myth of Er. Plato has Er tell of “columns of light” connecting heaven and earth…
I’ll finish the story for you. So, in Republic (Resp. 614b-621d), Plato narrates the strange story of Er: “After a four-day walk, Er sees a light straight like a column that crosses the earth and the entire sky. It is this column of light that holds the sky together and, similar to the hawsers of ships, holds its circumference together, that is, joins its extreme points. ”
I’m going to interrupt you. Could the “pillar of light” described by Plato in the myth of Er be understood as the Axis Mundi, the axis of the world?
Indeed, Plato’s description of the pillar of light has been read as a world axis whose lower part faces south and whose upper part faces north.
But then Plato’s pillar of light, the axis of the world, ends in a complex rotating device.
Plato places this axis of the world in a complex rotating apparatus called the “spindle of Ananke”: “… according to a rotary motion caused by a spindle that rotates on Ananke’s knee ”.
In the end Plato’s pillars of light conclude their action in the world of sound.
True. Ending the above excerpt in Republic (Resp. 614b-621d) we find: “… this external circle includes seven other circles inside which move according to a rotary motion caused by a spindle that rotates on Ananke’s knees, while on each circle there is a mermaid who sings a single note on a single tone”. Analyzing Plato’s words, one wonders whether the pillar of Er could really be photonic light, because the light we know does not emit notes. Or, as far as we know, does not cause them in the air.
Olympiodorus of Thebes wrote a commentary on Platoʼs Phaedo and said: “For the soul to descend, it must stabilize an image of itself in the body, and subsequently sympathize with its own image. And this can occur because of the similarity of form”. This sentence represents the Alpha and Omega of Theurgy, rather than of the simple Alchemy of metals. The meaning must be intuited because it is difficult to explain in the symbolic language of the time in which it was written.
The alchemists would have said that metals build their tomb and are reborn from their tomb. The terminology differs, of course, yet the meaning bears many similarities to the saying of Olympiodorus of Thebes. It is worth noting that alchemists show no physical regard for metals; indeed, they treat them roughly. Nevertheless, the parallels in purpose between the crude world of metals and the veiled world of humans might suggest a middle ground.
Should I perhaps focus on the word “middle”?
After all, you know how important the “third between the two” is in alchemy. And, if we look closely, the “middle” is the only opportunity we have to intervene, to act, or to transmute. Can we really penetrate the inaccessibility of the Sky? Can we work upon the body—upon matter that has already been shaped? No way. Yet that elusive third element between the two offers us a possibility.
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Main Index: 3. Rays and Optics according to the Ancient Authors