Hermetic art is despised in our age, Daniel Meisner

“Ars nostro spernitur ævo” ([Hermetic] art is despised in our age)

“Ars nostro spernitur ævo” ([Hermetic] art is despised in our age) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

The central figure is an old man, a scholar or artist, walking and carrying on his back a huge basket full of instruments and tools: a compass, a square, a ruler, an ancient astronomical instrument that resembles a cross and that is used to calculate the distance between two celestial bodies, a globe of the Earth, etc.  etc.

Alchemically prepared potable gold, Malachias Geiger

“Emblema 5 – Avri potabilis chimice praeparatio” (Alchemically prepared potable gold)

“Emblema 5 – Avri potabilis chimice praeparatio” (Alchemically prepared potable gold) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

This engraving was made by the German artist Wolfgang Kilian and was published in an alchemical and medical book written by the German physician Malachias Geiger entitled Microcosmus Hypochondriaca Tractatus (1652) ‘The Hypochondriac Microcosm on Hypochondriac Melancholy’.

All things exist through Mercury, Sulphur and Salt, Azufre y Sal

“Omnia mercurio, sulphure et sale” (All things exist through Mercury, Sulphur and Salt)

“Omnia mercurio, sulphure et sale” (All things exist through Mercury, Sulphur and Salt) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

I am sending you this engraving which is the forty-fifth emblem of the book Emblematum sacrorum et civilium miscellaneorum ─’Various Sacred and Civil Emblems’─, written by Jacob Bornitz.

Cognitio: Apollo, Pallas Athena, and the Nine Muses, VM Kwen Khan Khu

Cognitio

Cognitio 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

I am pleased to send you this engraving entitled: Cognitio. The scene, allegorical and mythological, shows us the seat of the nine muses on Mount Helicon, presided over by the Gods Apollo ─identified by his luminous aura and his harp─ and Pallas Athena ─who appears in the upper left corner on a cloud, with a helmet and a spear.

The finite produces the infinite, Jakob Bornitz

“Finitum producit infinitum” (The finite produces the infinite)

“Finitum producit infinitum” (The finite produces the infinite) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

We can see a cloth on which musical notes are written, giving us to understand that the basis of creation lies in them and in the octaves that we can perceive. This is one of the mysteries that surround the THEOMEGALOGOS Himself.

Mutual metamorphosis of things, Jakob Bornitz

“Mutua rerum metamorphosis” (Mutual metamorphosis of things)

“Mutua rerum metamorphosis” (Mutual metamorphosis of things) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

This engraving is telling us what the true Masters of the Hermetic Art affirmed and continue to affirm: “In the water the fire sleeps”…

Mercury and Virtue, Dosso Dossi, Krakow

Mercury and Virtue

Mercury and Virtue 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

I am pleased to bring you, on this occasion, this beautiful artistic work by the Italian Renaissance painter Dosso Dossi (1489-1542). The painting is preserved in the Royal Castle of Wawel, Krakow.

Revelations about the mysteries of the tinctures of the seven metals, Jean Brouaut

Revelations about the mysteries of the tinctures of the seven metals

Revelations about the mysteries of the tinctures of the seven metals 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

The cover depicts Basil Valentine and Hermes Trismegistus with alchemical and musical instruments; twelve woodcuts within the text that show alembics and various alchemical tools; an engraving by Senlecque with seven emblematic medallions and at the end an alchemical drawing in the form of a shield.

Divine and human symbols of pontiffs, emperors and kings

“Symbola divina & humana pontificum, imperatorum, regum” (Divine and human symbols of pontiffs, emperors and kings)

“Symbola divina & humana pontificum, imperatorum, regum” (Divine and human symbols of pontiffs, emperors and kings) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

I am sending you an image that appears in the book Symbola divina & humana pontificum, imperatorum, regum ─’DIVINE AND HUMAN SYMBOLS OF PONTIFFS, EMPERORS AND KINGS’─ published in 1601 in Prague.

With virtue as a guide, with luck as a companion, Gabriel Rollenhagen

“Virtute duce comite fortuna” (With virtue as a guide, with luck as a companion)

“Virtute duce comite fortuna” (With virtue as a guide, with luck as a companion) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

We must mortify and decompose this earth, which amounts to killing the griffin and fishing the fish, or separating the fire from the earth, the subtle from the gross, “gently, with great skill and prudence”, as Hermes teaches in his Emerald Tablet.