"World of Flying Fish and Falling Birds"

Symbols and allegories.
Yinlong
Posts: 121
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:12 pm

Re: "World of Flying Fish and Falling Birds"

Post by Yinlong »

Jiva wrote:Where does that image come from? The image below of the two figures standing on the sun and moon comes from The Chemical Wedding, but the two images don’t seem particularly related to each other.
The image is taken from Testimone del Fuoco's Facebook feed. Unfortunately no information of the source was given. I was about to eliminate by cropping the bottom of the image, but I hesitated since I thought it would give away the alchemical context for the reader - and - if you look closely to the couple on the bottom left hand corner - you can see an upside down bird just below the star, being attached to the emblem the couple is holding together.
Jiva wrote:Firstly though, the following is from Martin Ruland’s Lexicon of Alchemy (which I would recommend to anyone who attempts to decipher alchemical symbolism):
  • Dragon with wings – Mercury or Feminine Sperm, the Volatile part of the Matter, which strives with the fixed part, and must subsequently become fixed like that.
  • Dragon without wings – The Masculine Sperm, the Sulphur or fixed part.
Thank you so much for reciting the section and opening up the topic! It seems to be easy for me to move forward with my own studies after your reply. Also, I think I'll add a new book to my long list of "Need, to be purchased" items. ;)
Jiva wrote:I don’t know a huge amount regarding the complexities of alchemical imagery, but the questions they pose are fascinating.
...
The words “Inferior” and “Superior” might seem to inherently prefer the former over the latter, but both are stated as being required to purify (or fix) Mercury. It would take it out of context, but I think it’s easy enough to apply this to fish and birds, RHP and LHP etc.
I believe because of this, this thread, meaning the whole concept discussed previously, and this image has been circulating on my mind quite a lot. I almost feel I've found a totally new path to walk along to feed my obsession for dragons and snakes. Now I guess, including birds. Which is also quite fun, since I fairly recently draw a raven (or a crow) that I made part of a window cover/sticker art. When it came to my mind, I had to draw it even though I was at work, it just kind of came or pushed her way through from the depths of my mind. A bit later I realized I where I want to put her, and attached the crow part of the cover I designed that includes a raven, the moon and a cat. Now guarding my window, she feels a bit like a totem animal guarding my apartment while I'm away or asleep. I remember reading from Corto Maltese comics (I assume it was the Celtic Tales series) of a lady that turns into a raven that helps Corto with his quest. I think I need to check it again when I go home today, but I guess this is going already off the topic and requires another thread later. :)
Quaerendo Invenietis - Na dìomhcuimhnich a-chaoidh - Feuer frei!
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