 Angels and Monsters
|
The ancient wise men hid their mysteries under the figures of some imaginary beings that strongly impacted the popular cultures of different civilizations. On one side, the angels or celestial beings, close to the original creation and that represented the "volatile" part of the alchemical Great Work. At the other extreme, the monsters or grotesquely formed beings which even attached to the earth, but they possess in their interior the same light the angels do, and in the alchemical language they would represent the "fixed" part.
|
|
|
| |
Beginning the process 
Angels and Monsters
The ancient wise men hid their mysteries under the figures of some imaginary beings that strongly impacted the popular cultures of different civilizations. On one side, the angels or celestial beings, close to the original creation and that represented the "volatile" part of the alchemical Great Work. At the other extreme, the monsters or grotesquely formed beings and are attached to the earth, but they possess in their interior the same light the angels do, and in the alchemical language they would represent the "fixed" part. In many mythological stories and also in the popular legends, the angel, or the pure part, helps to manifest the light that is hidden in the inside of the monster, image of the impure or mixed creation. In it's time, this last one permits that that being which was volatile, that is to say that doesn't have a place on the earth, would be able to incarnate, assume a body and give perfect fruit. The lecture that we present begins with the image of a seraph, a burning angel according to the Hebrew etymology, that has six wings and that transmits the fire of heaven to the prophets.
Seraph of the apse of Santa Maria de Aneu, Spain, XII century.
 Previous | Home | Next
1 of 12. The Seraph
In the Book of Revelations, the vision of St. John in Patmos is described with great precision, and many medieval miniatures have represented it. In this, the gathering of the celestial courts is guarded by a burning seraph situated below the mandorla of Christ.
The text of The Book of Revelations that represents the image says this: "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
Carolingian Miniature of Christ in His Majesty, Metz, IX century
Previous | Home | Next
6 of 12. The Fallen Angel
According to some traditions, when God created man all the angels prostrated themselves before him, except the most beautiful of all of them, called Lucifer or Iblis in the Islamic tradition, who rebelled saying: "I am superior to man; you have created me of fire, while him you have created of clay."
Then God threw him out of heaven saying: "Go down from here, you will no longer be able to show your pride in this place! Leave! You will be with the despised." And he added "You will be between those to whom is given to wait." Lucifer, or Iblis, left his celestial land and was exiled in the most profound depths of the earth, or perhaps of mankind; nevertheless he carried with him a spark of the divine fire with which he had been created.
- Franz Von Stuck, "Lucifer", 1896.
Previous | Home | Next
11 of 12. The Dragon and the Celestial Tree
The miniature represents the same process as the earlier image, but explained in an alchemical way. From the dragon, that represents the imperfect conjoining of body and soul, surges, after a mysterious operation that the alchemists call "rectification", the tree of life that will give some perfect fruit, symbolized by the three principles or terrestrial luminaries. Here one should recall the motto represented by the acronym VITRIOL: "Visit to the interior of the earth, correcting and amending, you will find the hidden stone"
Hieronymous Reussner, "Pandora", 1582.
Previous | Home | End of Process
12 of 12. The embodied Light
In these two images there is an allusion to the mystery of the germination of the seed of celestial fire hidden in the earth. On the left, a tree decked with eyes is born from a child engendered in the body of the medieval visionary Hildegard von Bingen.
On the right, an obelisk, that for the Egyptians symbolized a ray of light materialized, rises toward heaven thanks to the germination of the earthly sun. Exactly as in the constellations, the secrets of heaven and of earth appear written in it.
Hildegard von Bingen, Scivias, 1141.
Obelisk from the Temple of Luxor, Egypt.
|
|
|
