In theurgy, the symbolism of ancient nourishment was regarded as an ancestral ritual of memory and repetition enacted through a “meal”. Ultimately, it was just a banquet with the gods, in which the sky was obliged to participate, and the earth cannot escape the sacrifice that the cosmos demands. Indeed, a communion. Could the idea of a ritual “meal” have something in common with the alchemical growth? Greek mythology tells us that when Zeus wanted to assume the “power” of someone or something, he swallowed it.
It is said that Alchemy just eats, but that’s the first step. “Eating” and “swallowing” belong to the transmutative category. Greek mythology starts the creation of the world from the moment Zeus decided to swallow Phanes. He was no longer Zeus, he wasn’t Phanes yet, he was a middle in between. Alchemists would say that they both took on the attributes of the other to form a new substance. Even alchemical symbolism describes the transmuting (because it dissolves) power of Mercurius with the symbol of “swallowing”. In alchemical symbolism, the dissolving agent performs the act of swallowing. This is also true in a non-metaphorical sense, because the active and passive substances constitute a third substance. But this is also obvious in chemistry.
In theurgy, they would say that “middle in between” is an intermediate and connecting substance between the two…
Even in Alchemy, the only difference is the texture. The food offered to the deities must be substantial, not just philosophical.
So it must be a real meal, not a metaphorical one.
In Alchemy, they say that there must be a right bait. We’ve already talked about it. The bait metaphor is scalable to the star magnet metaphor. And the star magnet par excellence is the Mercurius extracted from raw material, since the Spirit of the World precipitates deep into matter.
And then what happens, that the star fish eats the bait?
Someone who witnesses the final cooking of the philosophical egg—and becomes the “sovereign of the seven sounds”—could provide a comprehensive answer. I presume the missing note arrives.
Assuming that “sacrifice” implies a call to the gods for “communion” with them, I quote from Blaise de Vigenère: ”Omnis homo igne salietur et omnis victima sale salietur”. Every man is to be salted by fire, and every victim is to be salted by salt.
The victim is always the body. In Alchemy, earthly bodies must be reduced to salts (Terra es et in terram reverteris“, you are earth and to earth you shall return”), from which fire—our Secret Fire—extracts the Souls. However, the undertaking is by no means simple—should it appear so to anyone—for the bodies reduced to salts also contain the Spirit of Life; and this is something distinct from the Soul. Indeed, the Spirit (or Mercury) is extracted from the Salts, whereas the Soul represents the subsequent phase. Simply put, the Spirit of Life—or Mercurius—is synonymous with the Secret Fire, which in turn is synonymous with Fire. Thus, the Fire that performs the sacrifice is the Spirit of Life. De Vigenère also cites the Golden Verses of Pythagoras: “When you leave this mortal body, you shall pass into an ineffable and free air, and become an immortal god”. Most often, alchemists assist metals—rather than human beings—in attaining this state; when victims are involved, they must be salted with salt, only to be sacrificed by fire to fire.
In Greek mythology, sacrifice constitutes the archetype of every human action, marking the beginning of a new era. In alchemy, how can we define it?
If you ask me what constitutes a typical new era in alchemy, I can only answer that nothing is better suited to hold this role and title than the alchemical embryo. Now… the appearance of the embryo differs depending on the chosen path. Some maintain that it is Mercurius prior to its appearance, while others regard it as a new Alchemical Body destined to grow during the final cooking. It is termed an “embryo” precisely because it is subject to growth.
Previous: The Foundations of Alchemical Symbolism, Seeds
Next: The Foundations of Alchemical Symbolism, Physiology as Popular Imaginary
Main Index: 7. The Foundation of Alchemical Symbolism