The Language of Birds: Alchemical Symbolism Part 5, Rubedo and The Philosopher's Stone
The Rubedo or Red Stage is the final stage of the alchemical process, and signifies the successful achievement of The Philosopher's Stone—the alchemist's goal. In physical alchemy, this could mean the transmutation of a metal into gold, or an elixir of eternal life. In spiritual alchemy, this marks a moment of transcendence, revelation and/or self improvement, a changing of the alchemist's personality and persona.
In alchemical art, the Rubedo Stage is most often symbolized with: the phoenix, blood, a rose, a crowned king, gold, or simply anything within the work that appears as the color red. And while gold is sometimes the literal goal of the Philosopher's Stone in alchemy, more often it's the opposite—gold is being used as a metaphor for the alchemist's ultimate goal. When elements are referenced in alchemy, like mercury and sulfur, they often aren't referring to the physical element themselves.
I'll be interpreting two emblems in this newsletter, related to the Philosopher's stone and Rubedo Stage. The emblem above from Atalanta Fugiens is accompanied by the following epigram:
This prodigy seems more than strange to us, Yet Greece for truth has it affirmed thus: The clouds did twice at Rhodes their joy declare, Showering down gold through the receding air; When Sol to Venus paid the dues of love, And Pallas Sprung out of the brain of Jove.
Source: Furnace and Fugue
Simply, the emblem is depicting a story from Greek Mythology where Athena (Pallas) being born from the brain of Zeus (Jupiter) while Apollo (Sol) makes love to Aphrodite (Venus) and a golden shower rains from the sky. Setting the modern meaning of a "golden shower" aside, we can easily interpret the raining down of gold to signal the achievement of the philosopher's stone.
The figure splitting open Zeus' head could be a number of gods depending on the version of this myth, but because of the furnace and fire it makes the most sense for it to be Prometheus, the god who made humankind out of clay and brought them fire. Prometheus may be standing in the for alchemist themselves in this emblem, as he's the one bringing out the god of wisdom, Athena, from the brain of Zeus. This birth may symbolize the wisdom and insight that comes from achieving the Philosopher's stone in spiritual alchemy.
The meaning of the copulation of Apollo and Aphrodite is straight forward: it is a long held principle in alchemy that the masculine and feminine must be brought together and merged in the process of achieving the Philosopher's stone.
The emblem from Philosophia Hermetica above depicts an alchemist milking a black phoenix with a crown while a black turtle looks on. I personally love this manuscript for it's particularly bonkers imagery. The alchemist's crucible is filled with blood and the inscription around the emblem roughly translates to "from the milk of the menstrual flow, the blood will be soaked in milk".
We know that the phoenix, blood, and crown both represent the Rubedo stage and achievement of the Philosopher's Stone, but why is the phoenix black? Likely, this is meant to refer to the Nigredo or Black Stage associated with death and dissolution. We can imagine that a phoenix before fully rising from the ashes must be blackened from the fire. The milk is most certainly referring to the Albedo stage. So, if we assume the Peacock's Tail and Citrinitas Stage are omitted (as they often are), the sequence of events here mirrors the alchemical process: out of the Black phoenix comes the White milk, turning into the Red blood.
It is also possible that these are literal, as both menstrual blood and milk have been used as ingredients in physical alchemy. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about the symbolism of this voyeuristic turtle, but it may refer to the pace of the process and patience the alchemist must have to achieve their goal.
While there are agreed upon interpretations of reoccuring elements in alchemical symbolism, there is no definitive dictionary of symbols and no absolute interpretations, even among experts. Like with dreams and mythology, the symbols of alchemy are embedded deep in human consciousness. By learning more about them, we can engage in a form of symbolic communication that words cannot achieve. In the end, this is art, and even someone with no knowledge who has an open mind can bring insight to the works.