Search for the prima materia in nature or within oneself Extraction of raw materials through mining, gathering, or inner descent

This Splendor Solis depicts miners digging within a rocky cave represents the search for the prima materia, the hidden substance buried in the depths of nature and the self. The dark cavern is the unconscious, the “interior of the earth” of the VITRIOL motto The miners symbolize the alchemist’s effort, patience, and labor to uncover the raw, chaotic matter that contains the seed of gold. This is the very beginning of the Great Work, before any transformation, when the alchemist must descend into darkness to retrieve the material that will undergo the stages of dissolution, purification, and eventual illumination.

Mortificatio, whereby the bodies of the queen and the king are allowed to die under the regime of Saturn, humbly opening them up for the coming operations.

This Splendor Solis image depicts the Black Sun (Sol Niger), emblem of the nigredo. The dark orb sinking beneath the horizon symbolizes the eclipse of spirit, the hidden light buried in matter. The blue human face reflects the soul submerged in melancholy and unconscious depths, while the barren trees echo death and desolation. Yet golden rays shine upward, hinting that within this darkness lies the seed of illumination. It marks the stage of putrefaction and dissolution, the necessary death before renewal and the whitening of the albedo.

The three-headed dragon in the flask (red, white, black) is the prima materia showing its threefold nature compacted within the “philosophical egg.” The three heads simultaneously signify the color-stages (nigredo, albedo, rubedo) and the tria prima (sulphur, mercury, salt) still contending inside the vessel—volatile, combustible, and fixed principles biting at one another. Enclosed in glass, it tells you this battle and reconciliation must happen under seal by solve et coagula, circulation, and rectification until the heads are tamed into one nature. In sequence, it belongs at the hinge between late nigredo and the whitening work of albedo (often just before/around the peacock’s tail), when the operator is actively separating and reunifying the three principles under a correct regimen of fire to prepare the true coniunctio.

The “puer” (newborn, innocent soul) deliberately stoking the inner fire to tame the poisonous prima materia—figured as a dragon/salamander—inside the sealed philosophical egg. The bellows = regimen of air and fire (cibation/digestion), the flask = closed work, the dragon = volatile, toxic sulphur/mercury that must be cooked, bled, and reconciled. It belongs late in nigredo at the hinge into albedo: after putrefaction and separation, the operator carefully “feeds” measured heat and moisture so the hostile, chaotic forces are subdued and converted into a living, obedient tincture that will soon whiten.

This Splendor Solis image shows the balneum Mariae (philosophical bath), where the matter—here depicted as a man—is softened, dissolved, and purified in gentle heat, while the bellows stoke the hidden fire of transformation. The white bird perched on his head signifies the mercurial spirit or soul beginning to ascend in purity, heralding the transition from nigredo toward albedo. The flask at his side holds the subtle essence being separated, while the palace setting symbolizes that this inner work is a royal, sacred operation. This stage belongs to the albedo, when the darkened matter is washed and clarified, preparing for the whitening and illumination that follow.

“The Third Parable” shows the old King (the impure, fixed sulfur/gold of the work) being dissolved in the mercurial sea, while a younger, golden Prince—his purified successor—stands in the foreground. The white bird perched on the golden orb is the mercurial spirit descending to tincture and enliven the new body; the twin lights above (sun and star) signal renewed illumination and right regimen of fire. Alchemically it marks the dissolution and death of the old form (late nigredo/solutio) giving way to the reborn tincture and stabilization of light—an entry into albedo moving toward citrinitas.

separation and purification during the transition to albedo (the whitening phase), where mercurial vapors rise through distillation or sublimation, distinguishing pure essence from impure dross. The three heads represent the triune nature of the process—unifying body, soul, and spirit; or the three principles of salt, sulfur, and mercury; or the stages of nigredo (black), albedo (white), and rubedo (red)—signifying synthesis after dissolution and the volatile, spiritual ascent toward the philosopher's stone.

This plate personifies Philosophical Mercury as the “White Queen” enclosed in the crowned philosophical egg (the sealed vessel). Her blue robe signals lunar, aqueous purity; the bare breast and scepter show her nourishing, mediating power; the cloud underfoot marks her volatile nature, while the colored rings around her imply circulation and repeated rectification. It illustrates the albedo work of capturing and purifying Mercury in the bath—distilling, cohobating, and fixing the volatile spirit so she becomes immaculate and ready to unite with the Red King in the coming coniunctio.

The “catching the birds” : the man up the ladder into the tree gathers or snares birds (volatile spirits/mercurial vapors), while the two on the ground receive and “fix” what descends. The tree is the Philosophers’ Tree (the work now living and rooted), the ladder is the scala (grades/planetary rungs) of repeated sublimation, and the birds are the volatile soul being captured, purified, and returned in cycles (cohobation). This belongs late Albedo edging into Citrinitas—after whitening has cleared the matter, the operator tames and fixes the volatile spirit step-by-step to prepare the stable dawn of the Yellowing.

The polarized dyad just before the chemical wedding: the Sun-King (sulphur, active fire) stands in flames, while the Moon-Queen (mercury, passive water) stands on a dark, mercurial globe—often read as the caput mortuum/black earth to be whitened, and her scroll (“lac virginum/virgin’s milk”) hints at the whitening menstruum of albedo. The two luminaries above mark their distinct natures still apart; the scene belongs to the preparation/separation phase at the hinge from late nigredo into early albedo, when the opposites are purified, balanced, and readied for coniunctio in the bath.

The Sun King marrying the Moon Queen, officiated by Mercury, symbolizes the conjunction or "chemical wedding" in alchemy, where the masculine (solar, sulfur) and feminine (lunar, mercury) principles unite to form a new, balanced substance, often represented as the "lesser stone." Mercury, as the mediator, facilitates this union, embodying the transformative spirit that binds opposites.

The Rosarium image of the King and Queen in the pool with green sprigs and a descending dove represents the coniunctio in the albedo stage, when Sun and Moon are ritually joined through Mercury’s mediation. The water signifies dissolution and purification, the green plants symbolize the return of vital life-force, and the dove brings the unifying spirit. It is the sacred preparation for the fuller chemical wedding and rebirth that follows.

the Rebis (from Latin res bina, meaning "dual thing"), a hermaphroditic or androgynous figure symbolizing the union of opposites. A two-headed figure, often dressed in dark or dual-colored clothing, has one red wing (symbolizing sulfur, sun, or masculine) and one white wing (symbolizing mercury, moon, or feminine). The figure holds an egg in the left hand, representing the philosophical egg or the vessel of transformation containing the potential for the philosopher's stone, and a larger sphere or orb in the right hand, symbolizing the completed stone or cosmic unity. This figure represents the conjunction or chemical wedding, where opposites (male/female, solar/lunar, fixed/volatile) are united into a harmonious whole. The dual heads signify the integration of spirit and matter, and the wings reflect the volatile and fixed natures combined. The egg and orb emphasize the potential and realization of the Great Work, respectively.

The red sun just above the horizon, shadowed city, dead trees, and bluish-green land . The red sun is the tincture beginning to rise—illumination breaking through after the long eclipse of the black sun. The dead or barren trees show that the old forms have perished; the city in shadow reflects the material world still unredeemed; yet the fiery orb climbing above the horizon signals the dawning of new life, the first true light of the perfected stone. It is a vision of resurrection: the alchemist glimpses the rubedo, though the landscape has not yet been transfigured.

The “Red King in the flask” personifies perfected Sulphur—the solar, tincturing principle—now sealed, illumined, and ready to rule. His crown, orb, and scepter signal sovereignty of the new nature; the golden nimbus shows the work’s inner light; the crescent base hints that Luna (Mercury/Queen) has been mastered and now supports him. Alchemically this plate belongs at the threshold of rubedo—after the white work and coniunctio—marking fermentation, coagulation, and especially fixation of the red tincture into a stable, fiery body that will become the Stone.

The Rebis, a half-man, half-woman figure with two crowned heads, wings, a sword in the male hand, a crown in the female hand, and a multi-headed creature with bird-like feet at its base, symbolizes the union of opposites (sulfur/mercury, sun/moon) into a perfected, harmonious whole, embodying the philosopher's stone. The sword and crown represent masculine and feminine principles, while the creature signifies tamed primal matter.

The Rebis, a two-headed hermaphroditic figure standing on three serpents, represents the union of opposites (solar/masculine and lunar/feminine) achieving the philosopher's stone. The three serpents underfoot signify mastery over the triune principles (salt, sulfur, mercury) or the tamed chaos of the prima materia. The cup with three serpents in one hand symbolizes the containment and transformation of these principles through purification, while the single serpent in the other hand represents the unified essence or volatile spirit. The tree with 13 suns beside the figure signifies the multiplication of the stone’s power, with the suns reflecting solar perfection and the number 13 possibly alluding to lunar cycles or stages of transformation. The green lion behind indicates the raw, vital force of the prima materia, now integrated, while the pelican feeding its young with its blood represents self-sacrifice and the nourishing projection of the stone to transmute base matter. This image belongs to the rubedo stage, specifically the multiplication and projection phases, where the perfected stone amplifies its transformative power, marking the near-final steps of the alchemical sequence.

The “vesting” after the bath: the Red King (now tinctured scarlet) rises from the philosophical water still marked by the old, dark raiment of nigredo, while the angelic Woman/White Queen—Mercury-Sophia—offers clean garments. The pool is the balneum (dissolution and purification); emerging red shows the work has passed whitening and is entering coagulation and fixation. The new clothes signify the “new body” of the stone—spirit re-clothed in a purified, stable vehicle—and the investiture before coronation