The Link, the Loop
and the Twelve Distillations
a single-storey or open tail 'g',
or a double-storey or looptail 'g'.
An unquestioned force that propels on a flat and mundane journey
Or the Quest of the Grail
اَلْكِيمِيَاء
(al-kīmiyāʾ)
χημεία
(khēmeía)
No matter how far we travel on γῆ • (gê), our personal legend waits within.
In "O Alquimista", a novel by Paulo Coelho, in the final moment, an instant of epiphany, Santiago* – the main character, a pilgrim on the roads – realises that his material treasure is back in his homeland. It has been waiting for him – under a sycamore tree in Andalusia, Spain, near the church where he dreamed of it as a young boy – to achieve his personal alchemy. Though he travels all the way to Egypt to find his treasure, it is the journey that allows its revelation.
We are all thrown forth, cast out, sent all over the world to live, learn and keep looking for a missing treasure, our own very self that was in our backyard (loins: si loins & si proches) all along as we rediscover from relearning true alchemy, and as we travel to different places and hone our own skills.
double-storey or looptail 'g'
Linked to the visible, upper part of an (ice)berg (山ㄕㄢ or 艮ㄍㄣˋ52 or VII) a loop – a ring road or beltway, a path that starts and ends at the same point – encircles a void within which is inscribed the cosmic egg, thus wrapped in a coiled serpent. While the upper, phallic "o" is οὐροβόρος — ourobóros, “tail-devouring” — the self-consuming energies symbolised in serpents and dragons or the outer periphery of a wheel – its rim – its D&U counterpart symbolises the inner alchemy.
- The upper alembic is where the Solve takes place.
- The lower aludel (الأُثَال al-ʾuṯāl, “the sublimation vessel”) or still (الإِنْبِيق al-ʾinbīq, “still”/艮ㄍㄣˋgèn "Bound" or "keeping still, mountain" and "stilling") is the vessel of the Coagula.
- A to-and-fro exchange — a double-distillation resulting in the "eau-de-vie" — within the Lab during the Opus occurs till the rubēdō (“redness” fourth and final major stage of the alchemical magnum opus) is completed.
Tabula Smaragdina: لَوْح الزُّمُرُّذ, Lawḥ al-zumurrudh, compact and cryptic, associated with the creation of the philosophers' stone and the chrysopoeia, χρυσοποιία, khrusopoiia, "gold-making", the artificial production of gold
Simbolo alquímico
Ouroboros drawing from a late medieval Byzantine Greek alchemical manuscript.
Date: 1478,
Source: Folio 279 of Codex Parisinus graecus 2327
Source: Folio 279 of Codex Parisinus graecus 2327, a copy (made by Theodoros Pelecanos (Pelekanos) of Corfu in Khandak, Iraklio, Crete in 1478) of a lost manuscript of an early medieval tract which was attributed to Synosius (Synesius) of Cyrene (d. 412). The text of the tract is attributed to Stephanus of Alexandria (7th century).
Aurora consurgens, early 16th century
The fabulous winged creature represents the initial pulverization, "philosophical renewal".
Sword and arrow mark the destructive use of inner and outer fire.
The dead matter is brought back to life with "Aquapermanens" (Mercurius) and distilled up to twelve times.
Ouroborus, papyrus of Dama Heroub, Egypt, 21st Dynasty
The zodiac as a tail-eating snake (Ouroboros) symbolizes the eternity of Time and the boundary of the universe. Below it, the double lion Ruti ('Yesterday and Tomorrow'), the agency of resurrection, supporting the newborn Sun God.
| 3kr He who is beneath | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Single story, double stage & trinity
Values: 3/7/9
g as 9 or IX (VIIII)
The Hermit (IX) ninth trump or Major Arcana card
God's Gold Lab/Womb
Two distillations must be carried out and they take place in traditionally shaped Charentais copper alembic stills, the design and dimensions of which are legally controlled. The resulting eau de vie is a colourless spirit of about 70% alcohol.
ब्राह्मण & श्रमण
Brāhmaṇa, Brahmin and Śramaṇa
द्विज गणपति
Dwija Ganapati
द्विज dwija, “twice” or a twice-born, ‘upper’ caste सवर्ण savarṇa, “same colour, same caste”
or “sage, holy man”, पण्डित paṇḍita, “scholar”
ऋग्वेद Rig Veda does have many creation hymns. One declares no one really knows how creation happens. Another refers to हिरण्यगर्भः ‘Hiraṇyagarbha, literally the 'golden womb'’ from where all things emerged. Still, another speaks of पुरुष puruṣa of thousand heads, eyes and feet, whose eyes are the sun and moon, his body giving rise to different kinds of humans. These ideas were elaborated in ब्राह्मण brā́hmaṇa literature, transmitted by Brahmins ब्राह्मण: brāhmaṇa varna, who eventually spoke of a father-god प्रजापति: Prajāpati, lit. 'lord of creation and protector', the embodiment of the sacrificial ritual itself, whose children देव, Deva "heavenly, divine, anything of excellence" and असुर asuras keep fighting each other.
But the वेदः lit. 'knowledge' Vedic world changed, 2500 years ago. बौद्ध धर्म Buddhism and जैन धर्म Jainism arose and offered an alternate view of the world: Vedic rituals and material desires entrapped humans in the world of death, rebirth and suffering. Monasticism offered liberation. Edicts of the Emperor 𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓, Asoka, Ashoka’s edicts, 2300 years ago, and the writings of पतञ्जलि Patañjali described the tension between ब्राह्मण: brāhmaṇa, Brahmin and श्रमण Śramaṇa (Pali: samaṇa, Tamil: Samanam that means "one who labours, toils, or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose)" or "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic.") Shraman (hermits, monks), as the fight between snake and mongoose – the Cobra and the Indian Gray Mongoose – owing to opposing ideologies! The only way for Vedism to survive was to transform – and in this transformation, ब्रह्मा: Brahmā had to be beheaded.
In Buddhist and Jain art,ब्रह्मा: Brahmā and इन्द्र Indra were shown bowing to सिद्धार्थ गौतम (Deva) गौतम बुद्ध Siddhārtha Gautama the Buddha and तीर्थंकर (अरिहंत, जिनेन्द्र) the Tīrthaṅkara, literally a 'ford-maker'. Naturally, the Brahmins distanced themselves from these two gods and went on the lookout for new gods, and new ideas.
First the new idea: there is no need to renounce society to break free from the cycle of rebirths. One just had to renounce desire and could be a hermit-householder, a Hegelian synthesis of the thesis (materialism of the Brahmin householder) and the anti-thesis (spirituality of the Shramana hermit). So शिव: Śiva, the hermit of कैलास: Kailāsa – a 6,638 m high peak in Kangrinboqê or Gang Rinpoche: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) – who destroys काम: kāma "desire, wish, longing", god of desire, agrees to marry शक्ति: Śakti lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability" and become शंकर (śaṃkara) Shankara, the householder of काशी Kashi (modern वाराणसी Vārāṇasī). And विष्णु, lit. 'the pervader', Viṣṇu, from whose navel ब्रह्मा: Brahmā is born, descends on earth as राम Rāma, Ram, Raman or Ramar – seventh and one of the most popular avatars of विष्णु Viṣṇu – and कृष्ण: Kṛṣṇa, serving as ideal householders, engaged in action, but detached from the fruits of labour.
शिव Śiva, राम Rāma and कृष्ण Kṛṣṇa have Brahmins as enemies – ब्रह्मा Brahmā, दक्ष: Dakṣa, lit. "able, dexterous, or honest one," one of the प्रजापति Prajāpati, the agents of creation, रावण: Rāvaṇa, and द्रोण: Droṇa (also referred to as द्रोणाचार्य: Droṇācārya), who do not understand the meaning of यज्ञ: yajña, lit. 'sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering', who are orthodox and materialistic and who do not let go of desires, despite knowledge of Vedas. These are householders, not hermit-householders, they are self-indulgent and do not care for others.
* Santiago de Compostela o Santiago, destaca por ser uno de los tres grandes núcleos de peregrinación del cristianismo, junto con Jerusalén y Roma, al señalar la tradición que allí se dio sepultura al apóstol Santiago el Mayor.
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