ALCHEMY - MUTUS LIBER, OR SILENT BOOK - PLATE 14. Plate 14 in the Mutus series is in some ways the most enigmatic. The emphasis in each of the top three registers is on the number 3 - the furnaces (the types of transformation), three people, and three distinct alchemical operations. This triadic symbolism seems to point to the three-fold man (Thinking Feeling and Willing) which is expressed in the Three Principles of Salt, Mercury and Sulphur, of the alchemical credo. This connexion is confirmed by the scales, in the middle of the third register down, for Mercury is the balance, the uni
ALCHEMY - MUTUS LIBER, OR SILENT BOOK - PLATE 14. Plate 14 in the Mutus series is in some ways the most enigmatic. The emphasis in each of the top three registers is on the number 3 - the furnaces (the types of transformation), three people, and three distinct alchemical operations. This triadic symbolism seems to point to the three-fold man (Thinking Feeling and Willing) which is expressed in the Three Principles of Salt, Mercury and Sulphur, of the alchemical credo. This connexion is confirmed by the scales, in the middle of the third register down, for Mercury is the balance, the unifier of the principles of Salt and Sulphur. This third triad represents the action of Mercury in the sphere of the burning Will (or Sulphur). The upper register - represented as three furnaces devoid of flame, symbolize Salt, the cold mental activity - ever ready to create warmth and enthusiasm in the rest of the organism, when channelled by Mercury. It is not surprising that Mercury (or, rather, the distinctive symbol for Mercury) should be at the centre of the lowest register, between the two forms of the polarized alchemist (Man and Woman) who conducted this work. That they have completed the alchemical work is evident from their gestures - these are the hermetic gestures (sometimes called the Harpocratean gestures, pointing upwards in acknowledgement of the Heaven powers, and retaining silence (pressing their fingers to their mouths, in token of their being unwilling to speak). The Latin inscription between the externalized Animus and Anima, reads, Pray, Read, Read, Read and Read once more, Work and you will discover. The Latin has six capital letters - six is the number of the meeting and merging of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, as expressed in the six-pointed star. The Latin, like the symbolism of the plate as a whole, is set out on three levels
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Keywords: -, 14, 14., alchemy, archival, archive, art, artistic, artwork, book, colour, esoterica, historic, historical, history, illustration, image, liber, mutus, paranormal, plate, series, silent
