"The Heat causes earthly things to be penetrated by a Spiritual Force, of which it is said in the Turba : Spiritualize the bodies and make Volatile that which is Fixed. Of which Rhazes reminds in his " Light of Lights," as follows : "A heavy body cannot be made light without the help of a light body, nor can a light body be kept pressed down to the ground without the aid of a heavy body." — Splendor solis; alchemical treatises of Solomon Trismosin
Volatile and Fixed Superior and inferior
“as a Woman desires a Husband, and a Vile thing a precious one, and an impure a pure one, so also Argent vive covers a Sulphur, as that which should make perfect which is imperfect: So also a Body freely desires a Spirit, whereby it may at length arrive at its perfection.” - Bernard Trevisan. Treatise of the Philosophers Stone
"Ut tentes interiora terrae, rectificando invenies occultum lapidem veram Medicinam.": "That you may explore the inner parts of the Earth; by rectifying, you will find the hidden stone, the true medicine." "Confusa Materia sive Chaos Natura": "Confused Matter or the Chaos of Nature" "Omnia in Omnibus": “Everything in Everything" "Fixum si solves, faciesque volare solutum / Et volucrem figes, faciet te vivere tutum.": "If you dissolve the fixed and make the volatile fly, and fix the volatile, it will make you live safely."
The Volatile & The Fixed: Winged & Wingless Dragons
Winged Dragon: Represents the volatile, spiritual, or celestial principle. It signifies the "fixed" becoming "volatile," associated with the soul, spirit, or mercury in its purified, ascending state. It embodies transcendence, enlightenment, or the divine spark.
Wingless Dragon: Represents the fixed, material, or earthly principle. It symbolizes the "volatile" becoming "fixed," linked to the body, matter, or the prima materia (raw substance). It signifies grounding, stability, or the unrefined state.
Together, they illustrate the alchemical duality—spirit vs. matter, volatile vs. fixed—unified in the Great Work to achieve the transformation that creates the Philosophers’ Stone
