The Red Lion

The Lion, gazing toward the Sun, is a living archetype of purified sulfur, the masculine, fiery, and spiritual principle. Its red coloration signifies the completion of the rubedo phase, in which the soul integrates into the light of spiritual gold.

The Sun is not only a source of physical heat, but a symbol of Divine Intelligence guiding matter toward its highest destiny. The Lion, gazing upward, represents the adept who has transcended raw matter, no longer looking to the earth but to the celestial spheres, ready to receive the gnosis of light…

IMAGINATIVE CONTEMPLATION OF THE RED LION

— Seek to experience the fiery sulphuric power of the red lion in your soul.

— How is this experienced?

— Is it a force that is often allowed to emerge or is it mostly suppressed?

— In what crusades are you involved?

— By which crusades have you been affected?

— What were the results?

— How do you use your sword?

— Who do you serve?

— How can the fiery lion be transformed into the archetype of the hero and the knight?

— Then who do you serve?

— With the hero’s sword, courage and perseverance, seek to transcend the self’s temporal perception of, and war with, creation in order to re-establish contact with your divine origin.

Illustrated as the goal of the opus, the red lion is a symbol of the stone’s red elixir from which the scarlet redness of rubedo shines forth. This perfected elixir can transmute all base metals to gold, cure all diseases and produce long life leading to eternal resurrection and reintegration. It is the wealth of all wealth and the unified and perfect miracle of nature – summa perfecta.

• Alchemy – the divine work