Laura Gibbs

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Latin Reader (9): Accipe ovum

Laura Gibbs on January 8, 2017January 8, 2017

I'm skipping ahead to Emblem VIII in honor of Mia's mysterious egg, from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Accipe ovum et igneo percute gladio.Which means: Take an egg (accipe ovum) and strike it (et percute) with a fiery sword (igneo gladio).For a hand-colored version, see Adam McLean's website: Emblem VIII, and notice that he has chosen to make the egg a nice golden color!And here's the poem:Est avis in mundo sublimior omnibus, OvumCujus ut inquiras, cura sit una tibi.Albumen luteum circumdat molle vitellum,Ignito (ceu […]

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Latin Reader (8): Appone mulieri super mammas bufonem

Laura Gibbs on January 7, 2017January 7, 2017

Today, it's Emblem V from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Appone mulieri super mammas bufonem. This emblem goes in a very weird direction, as you can see:Appone mulieri super mammas bufonem, ut ablactet eum, et moriatur mulier, sitque bufo grossus de lacte.Apply a toad (appone bufonem) to a woman's breasts (mulieri super mammas) so that she might nurse him (ut ablactet eum), and let the woman die (et moriatur mulier), and let the toad grow thick (sitque bufo grossus) with milk (de […]

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Latin Reader (7): Conjunge fratrem cum sorore

Laura Gibbs on January 4, 2017January 4, 2017

Today, it's Emblem IV from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Conjunge fratrem cum sorore. Last time, we had the alchemical laundress, and today we go back to the fertility themes of the Boreas-embryo and the Earth-nurse.Conjunge fratrem cum sororeet propina illis poculum amorisConjoin (conjunge) brother with sister (fratrem cum sorore) and drink to their health (et propina illis) the cup of love (poculum amoris)!For a hand-colored version, see Adam McLean's website: Emblem IV.And here's the poem:Non hominum foret in mundo nunc […]

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Latin Reader (6): Vade ad mulierem

Laura Gibbs on January 1, 2017January 4, 2017

Today, it's Emblem III from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Vade ad mulierem. Yesterday, we had the Earth-as-Nurse, and today we have an ordinary woman doing ordinary laundry, but she is interpreted as a symbol of the alchemical craft:Emblem III. Vade ad mulierem lavantem pannos, tu fac similiter.Go do the woman who is washing clothes; do you the same.Latin etymology: You can see in that Latin phrase "fac similiter" what will eventually become the English word "fax," i.e. fac simile, "make […]

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Latin Reader (5): Nutrix ejus terra est.

Laura Gibbs on December 31, 2016January 4, 2017

Today, it's Emblem II from Michael Maier's Atalanta fugiens: Nutrix ejus terra est. Yesterday, we had an embryo in the belly of the Mercury-Wind, and today we have a little baby being suckled by the Earth. This one is more mythology than alchemy, as you can see the Earth here with the goat-nurse of Zeus on the left and the wolf-nurse of Romulus and Remus on the right:I think the wolf is the most nicely drawn of the three:Here is […]

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Latin Reader (4): Ventosa alvus

Laura Gibbs on December 30, 2016January 10, 2017

Now that I can get musical accompaniment for the "fugues" that accompany each emblem in the Atalanta fugiens, I am really going to enjoy doing these posts! I did Emblem XXXVI because it had showed up in Roos, and now I'll go back to the beginning and start with the first emblem: Portavit eum ventus in ventre suo.Portavit eum ventus in ventre suo.The wind carried him (portavi eum ventus) in his stomach (in ventre suo).Note the nice wordplay on ventus (wind, […]

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Roos. Alchemy and Mysticism (4)

Laura Gibbs on December 30, 2016February 1, 2017

Here are the other summary posts from Roos's Alchemy and Mysticism. I'm beginning the Macrocosm section of the book today at p. 34.Roos opens the Macrocosm section with a quote from the Timaeus about God creating the world as an illustration of his own perfection: "By turning it he shape it into a sphere, giving it the most perfect form of all."The first illustration is a weird and gorgeous walled courtyard from the Livre de Artephius, and there is also […]

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Latin Reader (3): De secretis Naturae.

Laura Gibbs on December 29, 2016January 4, 2017

Here is an item for the Alchemical Latin Reader from Atalanta fugiens which is online at Hathi Trust and also at Dresden; the Dresden copy is the source I used for the image below. I chose this one because it shows up in Roos; see the Roos post (and comments!) for more context. There's also a Wikipedia article about this fascinating book.Here is a full-sized view of the image. For a hand-colored version, see Adam McLean's website: Emblem XXXVI.If you look closely, the alchemical symbol for Mercury […]

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Roos. Alchemy and Mysticism (3)

Laura Gibbs on December 28, 2016December 29, 2016

Here are the other summary posts from Roos's Alchemy and Mysticism. I'm still on the Introduction to the book, starting today at p. 28.Roos has now moved into the allegorical reading of Paracelsus: "These Paracelsian Tria Prima [mercury, sulfur, salt] are not chemical substances, but spiritual forces, from whose changeable proportions the invisible blacksmiths or craftsmen of nature produce the transient material compositions of the objective world."Ooooh, I really like this passage: "Finding the correct source material for the Work […]

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LUX UMBRA DEI EST

Laura Gibbs on December 28, 2016December 28, 2016

It's the first Daily Digital Alchemy challenge: Shadows of A Different World. Instructions: "Alchemists know that shadows of a different dimension reach into this world. Capture an unworldly example of a shadow of a different world. It should indicate something more than we can see with our own eyes."I decided to go with this beautifully paradoxical Latin saying: LUX UMBRA DEI EST. Light (lux) is (est) the shadow of god (umbra dei). I made a cheezburger cat with it, and you can also see […]

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Latin Reader (2): Astutam vulpem gallus voret

Laura Gibbs on December 27, 2016December 27, 2016

Here is an item for the Alchemical Latin Reader from Stoltzius's Viridarium chymicum of 1624 (PDF download); I chose this one because of the fox. This fox is both devouring a rooster (as you would expect) and being devoured in turn (paradoxically). The poem explains:Tertia Clavis Basilii (Basil's Third Key)E petris aquilae rigidum conjunge Draconem: Exuret pennas, solvet et ille nives. Cum sale coelesti sulphur servare memento, Astutam vulpem gallus ut inde voret. Ales mersus aquis ad vitam ex igne redibit, Sentiet atque parem vulpis […]

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Latin Reader: Virtus Unita Fortior

Laura Gibbs on December 26, 2016December 27, 2016

Okay, I had really sworn off new Latin projects a few years ago (after my school turned down every request I made to teach Latin over a ten-year period... yes, even I can learn, eventually, to stop banging my head against the wall, ha ha). But now, with this new alchemy project, I don't think I can resist: this combination of image and text is irresistible. So, slowly but surely, I am going to start piecing together a Latin Alchemical […]

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Roos. Alchemy and Mysticism (2)

Laura Gibbs on December 26, 2016December 26, 2016

Here are the other summary posts from Roos's Alchemy and Mysticism. I'm still on the Introduction to the book, starting today at p. 15.Roos is now zooming in on German traditions, including the court of Emperor Rudolf II, "known as the German Hermes, whose Prague court was home to the most famous esoteric scientists of the day."There is now the first image of a book by Athanasius Kircher: the Turris Babel. That's at Hathi Trust: Athanasii Kircheri Turris Babel sive Archontologia […]

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Roos. Alchemy and Mysticism (1)

Laura Gibbs on December 24, 2016December 24, 2016

So, I got a Christmas present for myself, a lovely picture book from Taschen: Alchemy and Mysticism by Alexander Roos. I'm going to work through 10 pages per day (hopefully), and see just how many of these image resources I can find also in online versions! I'll label these posts as Roos to collect them.IntroductionThe first topic of the Introduction is Hermes Trismegistus, with an image of The Emerald Tablet from Khunrath's Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, 1606. Roos includes this famous […]

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Roos. Alchemy and Mysticism (1)

Laura Gibbs on December 24, 2016December 24, 2016

So, I got a Christmas present for myself, a lovely picture book from Taschen: Alchemy and Mysticism by Alexander Roos. I'm going to work through 10 pages per day (hopefully), and see just how many of these image resources I can find also in online versions! I'll label these posts as Roos to collect them.IntroductionThe first topic of the Introduction is Hermes Trismegistus, with an image of The Emerald Tablet from Khunrath's Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, 1606. Roos includes this famous […]