documentation in
Psychology and Alchemy
, par. 84, and “The Spirit Mercurius,” pars. 278ff., 287ff.
31 “Tanquam praeceptor intermedius inter lapidem et discipulum.” (
Biblio. chem
., I, p. 430b.) Cf. the beautiful prayer of Astrampsychos, beginning “Come to me, Lord Hermes,” and ending “I am thou and thou art I.” (Reitzenstein,
Poimandres
, p. 21.)
32 The stone and its transformation are represented:
(1) as the resurrection of the
homo philosophicus
, the Second Adam (“Aurea hora,”
Artis auriferae
, 1593, I, p. 195);
(2) as the human soul (“Book of Krates,” Berthelot,
La Chimie au moyen âge
, III, p. 50);
(3) as a being below and above man: “This stone is under thee, as to obedience; above thee, as to dominion; therefore from thee, as to knowledge; about thee, as to equals” (“Rosinus ad Sarratantam,”
Art. aurif
., I, p. 310);
(4) as life: “blood is soul and soul is life and life is our Stone” (“Tractatulus Aristotelis,” ibid., p. 364),
(5) as the resurrection of the dead (“Calidis liber secretorum,” ibid., p. 347; also “Rachaidibi fragmentum,” ibid., p. 398);
(6) as the Virgin Mary (“De arte chymica,” ibid., p. 582); and
(7) as man himself: “thou art its ore . . . and it is extracted from thee . . . and it remains inseparably with thee” (“Rosinus ad Sarratantam,” ibid., p. 311).
3. A TYPICAL SET OF SYMBOLS ILLUSTRATING THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION
240
I have chosen as an example a figure which plays a great role in Islamic mysticism, namely Khidr, “the Verdant One.” He appears in the Eighteenth Sura of the Koran, entitled “The Cave.” 1 This entire Sura is taken up with a rebirth mystery. The cave is the place of rebirth, that secret cavity in which one is shut up in order to be incubated and renewed. The Koran says of it: “You might have seen the rising sun decline to the right of their cavern, and as it set, go past them on the left, while they [the Seven Sleepers] stayed in the middle.” The “middle” is the centre where the jewel reposes, where the incubation or the sacrificial rite or the transformation takes place. The most beautiful development of this symbolism is to be found on Mithraic altarpieces 2 and in alchemical pictures of the transformative substance, 3 which is always shown between sun and moon. Representations of the crucifixion frequently follow the same type, and a similar symbolical arrangement is also found in the transformation or healing ceremonies of the Navahos. 4 Just such a place of the centre or of transformation is the cave in which those seven had gone to sleep, little thinking that they would experience there a prolongation of life verging on immortality. When they awoke, they had slept 309 years.
241
The legend has the following meaning: Anyone who gets into that cave, that is to say into the cave which everyone has in himself, or into the darkness that lies behind consciousness, will find himself involved in an—at first—unconscious process of transformation. By penetrating into the unconscious he makesa connection with his unconscious contents. This may result in a momentous change of personality in the positive or negative sense. The transformation is often interpreted as a prolongation of the natural span of life or as an earnest of immortality. The former is the case with many alchemists, notably Paracelsus (in his treatise
De vita longa
5 ), and the latter is exemplified in the Eleusinian mysteries.
242
Those seven sleepers indicate by their sacred number 6 that they are gods, 7 who are transformed during sleep and thereby enjoy eternal youth. This helps us to understand at the outset that we are dealing with a mystery legend. The fate of the numinous figures recorded in it grips the hearer, because the story gives expression to parallel processes in his own unconscious which in that way are integrated with consciousness again. The repristination of the original state is tantamount to
Psychology and Alchemy
, par. 84, and “The Spirit Mercurius,” pars. 278ff., 287ff.
31 “Tanquam praeceptor intermedius inter lapidem et discipulum.” (
Biblio. chem
., I, p. 430b.) Cf. the beautiful prayer of Astrampsychos, beginning “Come to me, Lord Hermes,” and ending “I am thou and thou art I.” (Reitzenstein,
Poimandres
, p. 21.)
32 The stone and its transformation are represented:
(1) as the resurrection of the
homo philosophicus
, the Second Adam (“Aurea hora,”
Artis auriferae
, 1593, I, p. 195);
(2) as the human soul (“Book of Krates,” Berthelot,
La Chimie au moyen âge
, III, p. 50);
(3) as a being below and above man: “This stone is under thee, as to obedience; above thee, as to dominion; therefore from thee, as to knowledge; about thee, as to equals” (“Rosinus ad Sarratantam,”
Art. aurif
., I, p. 310);
(4) as life: “blood is soul and soul is life and life is our Stone” (“Tractatulus Aristotelis,” ibid., p. 364),
(5) as the resurrection of the dead (“Calidis liber secretorum,” ibid., p. 347; also “Rachaidibi fragmentum,” ibid., p. 398);
(6) as the Virgin Mary (“De arte chymica,” ibid., p. 582); and
(7) as man himself: “thou art its ore . . . and it is extracted from thee . . . and it remains inseparably with thee” (“Rosinus ad Sarratantam,” ibid., p. 311).
3. A TYPICAL SET OF SYMBOLS ILLUSTRATING THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION
240
I have chosen as an example a figure which plays a great role in Islamic mysticism, namely Khidr, “the Verdant One.” He appears in the Eighteenth Sura of the Koran, entitled “The Cave.” 1 This entire Sura is taken up with a rebirth mystery. The cave is the place of rebirth, that secret cavity in which one is shut up in order to be incubated and renewed. The Koran says of it: “You might have seen the rising sun decline to the right of their cavern, and as it set, go past them on the left, while they [the Seven Sleepers] stayed in the middle.” The “middle” is the centre where the jewel reposes, where the incubation or the sacrificial rite or the transformation takes place. The most beautiful development of this symbolism is to be found on Mithraic altarpieces 2 and in alchemical pictures of the transformative substance, 3 which is always shown between sun and moon. Representations of the crucifixion frequently follow the same type, and a similar symbolical arrangement is also found in the transformation or healing ceremonies of the Navahos. 4 Just such a place of the centre or of transformation is the cave in which those seven had gone to sleep, little thinking that they would experience there a prolongation of life verging on immortality. When they awoke, they had slept 309 years.
241
The legend has the following meaning: Anyone who gets into that cave, that is to say into the cave which everyone has in himself, or into the darkness that lies behind consciousness, will find himself involved in an—at first—unconscious process of transformation. By penetrating into the unconscious he makesa connection with his unconscious contents. This may result in a momentous change of personality in the positive or negative sense. The transformation is often interpreted as a prolongation of the natural span of life or as an earnest of immortality. The former is the case with many alchemists, notably Paracelsus (in his treatise
De vita longa
5 ), and the latter is exemplified in the Eleusinian mysteries.
242
Those seven sleepers indicate by their sacred number 6 that they are gods, 7 who are transformed during sleep and thereby enjoy eternal youth. This helps us to understand at the outset that we are dealing with a mystery legend. The fate of the numinous figures recorded in it grips the hearer, because the story gives expression to parallel processes in his own unconscious which in that way are integrated with consciousness again. The repristination of the original state is tantamount to
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