VOPUS Gnosis > Alchemy
Mutual metamorphosis of things, Jakob Bornitz

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

United virtue is stronger, Baro Urbigerus

“Virtus unita fortior” (United virtue is stronger)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Virtus unita fortior” (United virtue is stronger) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

It is the frontispiece of a book published in 1690 in London and entitled Aphorismi Urbigerani. This engraving takes us back again to the study of the Sacred ARCANUM A.Z.F. and its alchemical concomitances.

Mercury, Alchemy, Johan de Monte Raphaim

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

This engraving, patient reader, brings to mind one of the most precious symbols of Alchemy; we refer to the Mercury of the sages.

Virtue does not know how to fall and Wherever it is taken, Selectorum Emblematum

“NESCIT LABI VIRTUS” (Virtue does not know how to fall) and “QUOCUNQUE FERAR” (Wherever it is taken)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“NESCIT LABI VIRTUS” (Virtue does not know how to fall) and “QUOCUNQUE FERAR” (Wherever it is taken) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

On this occasion I send you two emblems from the same book: Selectorum emblematum, with the text in Latin and Old French.

The paradise of the bridegroom and bride, Philip Galle

“Reciproca sponsae sponsiqve ad hortum suum invitatio” (A mutual invitation from the bride and groom to their garden)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Reciproca sponsae sponsiqve ad hortum suum invitatio” (A mutual invitation from the bride and groom to their garden) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

To experience the CHRISTIC LOVE we will need to be betrayed ─hence the bag of coins that appears in the Christic garden─, we will need to experience the three nails of the Redeemer’s cross, we will suffer the crown of thorns ─internally speaking─,  we will be victims of the insolence of the Ego ─see the whip─, we will have to acquire the Christic will ─marked by the hammer─, etc., etc., etc.

Hope, seed of faith, Hieronymus Wierix

“Speis fidei semen promissae firma salvtis anchora, per christvm gavdia restitvit” (Hope, seed of faith, firm anchor of promised salvation, restores happiness through Christ)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Speis fidei semen promissae firma salvtis anchora, per christvm gavdia restitvit” (Hope, seed of faith, firm anchor of promised salvation, restores happiness through Christ) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

We see in the center of it a winged female figure on an anchor, with a laurel wreath on her head, sowing wheat and pointing to the sky. She is the VIRGIN MOTHER NATURE ─that is why she wears laurels on her head─ and at her feet the ANCHOR that, in addition to allegorizing the three primary forces, represents in Masonry the end of the hermetic work.

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