VOPUS Gnosis > Universal Symbols
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.

”Timiditas”, Fear

“Timiditas” (Fear)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Timiditas” (Fear) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

We could conclude the following about the two couples mentioned above: terror makes us flee, but modesty contains that impetus of fear, indolence limits action, but it has to stop when poverty, which is a consequence of indolence itself, forces us to act.

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.

Tristitia, ‘sadness’, Negative human traits

“Tristitia” (Sadness)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Tristitia” (Sadness) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

This engraving belongs to a four-part series on negative human traits. The series was engraved and published in 1592 in Cologne ─Germany.

Deterivs formido, I fear the worst

“Deterivs formido” (I fear the worst)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Deterivs formido” (I fear the worst) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

On this occasion, I am sending you the eighty-fourth emblem of the book Nucleus emblematum selectissimorum, ‘The Nucleus of the Most Select Emblems’, with the texts in Latin and Old French and a possible translation.

Not how often, but how well, Nucleus emblematum selectissimorum

“Non qvam crebro, sed qvam bene” (Not how often, but how well)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“Non qvam crebro, sed qvam bene” (Not how often, but how well) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

Os envío el vigésimo quinto emblema del libro Nucleus emblematum selectissimorum, ‘el núcleo de los emblemas más selectos’.

"DVRABO" (I will resist) and "VICTRIX PATIENTIA DVRI" (Patience is victorious in difficulties), Gabriel Rollenhagen

“DVRABO” (I will resist) and “VICTRIX PATIENTIA DVRI” (Patience is victorious in difficulties)
V.M. Kwen Khan Khu
“DVRABO” (I will resist) and “VICTRIX PATIENTIA DVRI” (Patience is victorious in difficulties) 850 480 V.M. Kwen Khan Khu

I send you the twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth of a book of poems written by the same German poet Gabriel Rollenhagen. The book is entitled Nucleus emblematum selectissimorum, ‘The Nucleus of the Most Select Emblems’.

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