In Egyptian, Akhet means “dawn.” This
symbol—often made into an amulet by the Ancient Egyptians—symbolized the
new Sun rising over the sacred mountain.
The symbol sometimes features the double-headed lion,
or Aker, that guards it, and is also related to the glyph used to denote
the astrological sign of Libra.
AKWABA
This is an African fertility symbol belonging to the
Ashanti tribe. The Akwaba is a doll, usually carved of wood, which
commands the same attention as a real infant. It is dressed, washed, and
even “fed” until the human child is actually born, an example of
sympathetic magic believed to ensure the arrival of the true baby.
ALCHEMY
Alchemy is an ancient art, at the heart of which lies the
manufacture of a mysterious substance called the Philosopher’s Stone,
the highly desirable and legendary object that is said to transform base
metals—such as lead—into gold.
However, the gold in this instance
symbolizes not just the valuable metal, but enlightenment and eternal
life, and Alchemists are concerned with their own spiritual and personal
development as well as the pursuit of the seemingly unattainable goal.
The Chinese differentiate these different kinds of alchemy as nei-tan
(the alchemy of spiritual transformation) and waitan (the
straightforward “lead-into-gold” type).
The motto of the Alchemists is Solve et Coagula, meaning “Solution and Coagulation.”
The work of the early Alchemists was
necessarily a secretive and clandestine matter, and its secrets are
still held within a rich encrustation of symbols, pictures, oblique
references, double meanings, and riddles. Alchemical symbolism features animals, birds, colors, and parables as well as archetypal symbols such as the Cosmic Egg.
The key tenets of alchemy are encompassed in something
called the Smaragdina Tablet, or the Emerald Tablet, which is said to
have been found by Alexander the Great in the tomb of Hermes
Trismegistus (Hermes the Thrice Great) who is the founder of all things
alchemical. The Alchemical Tradition exists/existed in Ancient Egypt,
China, and India, but its most recent incarnation was in medieval
Europe.
Those who dabbled in alchemy include the famous and
the infamous, such as John Dee (astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I),
Paracelsus, Albertus Magnus, Christian Rosenkreuz, Nicholas Flamel, and
Isaac Newton. Some of the chemical treatises are befuddling to even the
most learned of scholars, but the very word “alchemy” is almost in
itself a symbol, conjuring up images that are magical, mystical, and
marvelous.
ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLS
Although some of the alchemical symbols occasionally
varied a little between practitioners, the following lists show the
most commonly used interpretations. This list is by no means
comprehensive but gives a good cross-section of the “feel” of these
mysterious signs. It is interesting to see how many of these alchemical
symbols have survived to the present day, and how the meanings of the
simpler symbols are so universal that they extend well beyond the
reaches of this one system.
The four basic elements
- Air
- Water
- Fire
- Earth
The four seasons
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
- Winter
The seven planetary metals
- Sun gold
- Moon silver
- Mercury mercury or quicksilver
- Venus copper
- Mars iron
- Jupiter tin
- Saturn lea
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