Splendor Solis

"ALPHIDIUS, one of the old Philosophers, said: "

Every one who does not care for the trouble of obtaining the Philosopher's Stone, will do better in making no enquiries at all than only useless ones

." The same also says Rhases, in his book "Light of Lights": "

Let it be said then to all, I hereby admonish them most earnestly, that none be so foolhardy to presume to understand the unknown intermixture of the elements

,'* for as Rosinus says : "

All who engage in this Art, and are wanting the knowledge and perception of things, which the Philosophers have described in their books, are erring immensely ; for the Philosophers have founded this art in a natural beginning, but of a very hidden operation

.' Though it is evident that all corporeal things originate in and are maintained and exist of the Earth, according to Time and Influence of the Stars and Planets, as: Sun, Moon and the others, together with the four qualities of the elements, which are without intermission, moving and working therein, thereby creating every growing and procreating thing in its individual form, sex and substance, as first created at the Beginning by God, the Creator, consequently all metals, originate in the earth of a special and peculiar matter produced by the four properties of the four elements, which generate in their mixture the metallic force, under the influence of their respective planets."

"The Philosopher's Stone is produced by means of the Greening and Growing Nature. Hali the Philosopher, says thereof: "

This Stone rises in growing, greening things

." Wherefore when the Green is reduced to its former nature, whereby things sprout and come forth in ordained time, it must be decocted and putrefied in the way of our secret art. That by Art may be aided, what Nature decocts and putrefies, until she gives it, in due time, the proper form, and our Art but adapts and prepares the Matter as becomes Nature, for such work, and for such work provides also, with premeditated Wisdom, a suitable vessel."

"For Art does not undertake to produce Gold and Silver, anew, as it cannot endow matter with its first origin, nor is it necessary to search our Art in the places and caverns of the earth, where minerals have their first beginning. Art goes quite another way to work and with different intention from Nature, therefore does Art also use different tools and instruments."

Study what thou art, Where of thou art a part. what thou knowest of this art, That is what thou truly art. All that is without thee, Also is within. _Solomon Trismosin

1. The Arms of the Art A coat of arms displays alchemical symbols and tools, including flasks, retorts, and celestial motifs, representing the heraldic emblem of the hermetic art.
2. Philosopher with Flask An aged philosopher in robes holds a glowing flask containing a miniature sun and moon, symbolizing the unionof opposites in the alchemical work.
3. The Knight on the Double Fountain A armored knight stands astride two spouting fountains—one black, one white—drawing water into vessels, illustrating the separation and purification of primal matter.
4. Solar King and Lunar Queen Meet The golden Solar King and silvery Lunar Queen embrace beneath a flowering tree, signifying the sacred marriage (coniunctio) of sun and moon principles.

The Seven Parables

1. Miners Excavating Hill Laborers with picks dig into a rocky hill to extract ore, depicting the initial mining of raw philosophical matter from the earth.
2. Philosophers Beside Tree Three robed philosophers contemplate a fruit-bearing tree with roots in water, representing the growth of the philosophical tree through contemplation.
3. Drowning King A crowned king sinks into a dark pool while reaching upward, symbolizing the dissolution (solve) and death of the old form in the alchemical process.
4. Resurrection Out of the Swamp The king emerges renewed from murky waters, clothed in white, illustrating the rebirth and purification after nigredo.
5. Hermaphrodite with Egg A dual-gendered hermaphrodite holds a black egg, standing on a globe, embodying the rebis (unified opposites) and the potential of the philosophical egg.
6. Severing the Head of the King A figure decapitates the crowned king with a sword, signifying the separation of the volatile spirit from the fixed body.
7. Boiling the Body in the Vessel The king's limbless body cooks in a sealed glass vessel over flames, representing the intense calcination and transformation in the athanor.

The Seven Flasks

1. Saturn - Dragon and Child A black dragon devours a winged child within a flask labeled with Saturn's symbol, portraying lead's nigredo and the devouring of impure matter.
2. Jupiter - Three Birds Three birds—black, white, and red—perch in a flask under Jupiter's sign, illustrating the stages of purification and the trinity of principles.
3. Mars - Triple-Headed Bird A fierce triple-headed bird (black, white, red) fights in a flask marked Mars, symbolizing conflict and the fiery sublimation of iron-like aggression.
4. Sun - Triple-Headed Dragon A golden triple-headed dragon coils in a flask with the Sun's emblem, depicting the multiplication and perfection of the solar essence.
5. Venus - Peacock's Tail Iridescent peacock feathers fan out in vibrant colors within a Venus flask, representing the cauda pavonis, the display of all colors before whiteness.
6. Mercury - The White Queen A radiant White Queen stands crowned in a flask under Mercury's sign, embodying the achievement of the white stone and lunar perfection.
7. Moon - The Red King A majestic Red King rises enthroned in a flask marked Moon, signifying the ruby-red elixir and the ultimate solar-lunar union.
8. The Dark Sun A blackened sun eclipses in a clouded sky above a flask, illustrating the blackening (nigredo) of the solar principle before rebirth.
9. Children at Play Naked children frolic and play games around a fountain, symbolizing the innocence and multiplication of the rejuvenated philosophical child.
10. Women Washing Clothes Women diligently launder garments in a stream, representing the final cleansing and whitening of the matter to achieve purity.
11. Sun Rising Over the City The golden sun dawns over a prosperous walled city, heralding the completion of the Great Work and the illumination of the perfected stone.

"The Philosophers give to this Art two bodies, namely: Sun and Moon, which are Earth and Water, they also call them Man and Wife, and they bring forth four children, two boys, which are heat and cold, and two girls, as moisture and dryness. These are the Four Elements, constituting the Quintessence, that is the proper white Magnesia, wherein there is nothing false. In conclusion Senior remarks: "When these five are gathered together, they form One substance, whereof is made the natural Stone, while Avicena contends that: “if we may get at the Fifth, we shall have arrived at the end.”

So let us understand this meaning better. The Philosophers take for example an Egg, for in this the four elements are joined together. The first or the shell is Earth, and the White is Water, but the skin between the shell and the White is Air, and separates the Earth from the Water; the Yolk is Fire, and it too is enveloped in a subtle skin, representing our subtle air, which is more warm and subtle, as it is nearer to the Fire, and separates the Fire from the Water. In the middle of the Yolk there is the Fifth Element, out of which the young chicken bursts and grows.

Thus we see in an egg all the elements combined with matter to form a source of perfect nature, just so as it is necessary in this noble art."

— Splendor solis by Solomon Trismosin