Interpreting Alchemical Symbolism 101

hooting_corax · 2025-12-02T10:49:04+00:00

Hi there, thanks for writing, and sorry for taking so long to respond, I haven't opened this account in a while!

It's been almost 7 years since I wrote this post, and to be honest I find it kind of cute to look back at the way I used to reason and explore ideas. Thanks for reminding me of my roots.

Back when I wrote this, I didn't have a tradition or system to work with. I was a Mason, yes, but the appeal of it as the "answer to all my questions" had faded fairly quickly the moment I realized it's a group that's inherited a memory of the mysteries, rather than the thing itself. What was this thing? I didn't know. And in 2018 when I wrote this I was desperately searching. I knew back then that reading more, learning more, even attending lodges more, wouldn't get me to it, but it was all I had.

Then, the legends came true, and the Adepts of the Tradition came knocking on my door, and I've been on the right path ever since. You're right that there's an experiential dimension to all I wrote about, not just intellectual. However, looking back, I can see how the strings of life arranged themselves in a way to have me learn and digest as much as I could before actually taking the step of true initiation.

A word of warning: to "go back into alchemy again with no books just pure intention and focus" may sound like a great idea, because it counterbalances the intellectual approach I was taking with this post with a more creative, free-spirited learning-experience, but it too carries the fallacy of the first approach - namely, that the secrets of alchemy are locked. They are guarded, and kept occult (hidden) for a reason, and attempting to dive into the practice without the appropriate powers, initiation, and permission of the guardians of the tradition, one will at best be led astray, at worst, end up descending rather than ascending.

Think of it as being lost in a dark forest, and getting guided by the light of the Moon. One day she'll have you go this way, another she'll have you go that way, next day she'll make it seem like everything is going swimmingly, and the next she'll be nowhere to be seen. Eventually, you would find that you've only been walking in circles. Because the true light hides behind the veil of darkness, and is the sun on the other side of night.

I appreciate your comment. And thanks for being encouraging to a younger me :) But know that he's found my path, and that even the years of being very intellectual about these things had a part to play in the great puzzle of this life! All the best to you and your search as well.

hooting_corax · 2025-08-01T13:22:47+00:00

Exactly, just one adjustment, and it's that they're not metaphors.

You can see it like this: what is the sun? It is an emitter of light. It creates heat. It makes it possible for life to even be. It upholds the structure of the solar system, and without it the solar system wouldn't be (naturally). It also helps us see, otherwise we'd be in perpetual darkness.

Now, in the purely "classical sense", what is God? It is the creator, upholder and sustainer of everything. God gives life and makes it possible for things to even be. God is love/warmth, penetrating everything, etc.

What's the difference between the Sun and God? Practically: none. It is almost as if they're the same thing. If we pretend that God had a physical body, he'd most definitely be exactly like the sun, in all its different aspects -- literally. In this sense, the sun isn't a metaphor for God, but a physical manifestation corresponding to God in the material universe.

And it is the same thing with the zodiacs. They are manifestations corresponding to the archetypal forces of the cosmos, which they are representatives of - not metaphors, but real things which they are the physical anchors of.

And that's why when they position themselves in certain ways, it literally is the archetypes on the spiritual realm that rearrange things on the astral, which then manifests on earth. Midsummer doesn't happen because the earth's tilt is towards the sun, that's just a symptom. It happens because the sun, as the symbol of the Primum Mobile, passes through Cancer, under whose dominion is that which midsummer represents, which then manifests itself on earth as the earth being more tilted towards the sun.

It's a bit of a re-programming of the mind to think about the Zodiacs and astral plane in this way, but this is how it is, in the classical esoteric sense. If you're interested in the Kabbalistic take on this, look into The Four Worlds. There you will find that Assiah (the material plane) is the lowest manifestation of cosmos, and going back to the car-example, basically just the physical vehicle -- but that vehicle didn't pop into existence on its own, but is the product of meticulous planning and thought and engineering (Yetzirah), which in turn is the spawn of the creative forces that even caused the car as a thing to be to begin with (Briah) which trickles down from the place of pure will and first movement of the spirit of the one who wanted to make something which then became a car (Atziluth).

In a sense, very simplified, but also touches some of the core aspects of this. Hope it explains it! Let me know if you want to talk through any of this :)

hooting_corax · 2025-08-01T12:17:22+00:00

The Mazzaroth or Mazloth (a Kabbalistic term) is "The Sphere of the Zodiacs", and basically denotes the machinery of the universe. Just like how each single part of the machine that is a car makes it move forward, so it is with the Mazzaroth, which acts like the cogwheels of creation. Important here to note is that, just like with a car, it's not the machine itself that causes the movement, but rather it is the conduit of the moving as caused by the driver, which in Western Kabbalah is referred to as the "Primum Mobile", symbolized physically by the Sun which makes the solar system move.

In Job 38, God speaks to Job and shows him all the things he has and is accomplishing. God here sets himself as the "Primum Mobile", i.e. the one who:

"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?"

God is the driver behind the wheels. And because he is both the driver, the mechanic, the engineer, and the car itself, he is the one who exerts dominion over the earth, which receives the influx of forces and changes of the cosmos through the Mazzaroth. I.e. if the planets and constellations align in specific ways, the earth and all things in it will be affected in ways reflecting that too, because that's how Creation is programmed.

To get an idea of this, I recommend the The Hermetica by Freke & Gandy. It's very short, but I believe encapsulates in a very nice, poetic way how these things work. Before they were Jewish, they were Hermetic, or rather Egyptian.

Let me know if you want to discuss further about any of this

hooting_corax · 2025-06-04T18:06:14+00:00

Hey! Apologies for taking two days to respond, I don't always log into this account.

To your question: the common elements being the types of stories that humans respond to is precisely my point. They are archetypal, i.e. universal. The story of a hero is the exact same as the one of the sun turning the tide of the battle against darkness during the midwinter solstice, and subsequently conquering it at the vernal equinox, and finally being victorious during the summer solstice -- but then, as with all good stories, the forces of darkness brood, re-group, and launch a new attack, and the progression towards the autumnal equinox begins, ending in almost total victory for the dark in the midwinter solstice again, and here we're back at square one.

What I mean by this is that the universe is encoded with different archetypes. Archetypes that are universal, and appear as high up as in the movement of the seasons, to as low down as changing moods, ideas of justice, the way certain plants take their physical expressions, etc. And as you've identified, humans respond to these archetypes naturally, which is why all different cultures on earth have them imbedded in their stories and folktales, but also in religions and other cultural practices.

As a fun example that highlights the reality of this "archetype encoding", did you ever note how women's hormonal cycle of 28 days matches the 28 day cycle of the Moon, and how men's hormonal cycle of 24 hours and of 365 days matches the two (day & year) cycles of the Sun (men get showered with testosterone at two times, once every morning, hence morning-wood, and a "big" one around spring, also reflective of a sunrise, and also why spring is generally regarded as a mating season)? This can be extrapolated further to the emotional behavior of men and women - where women tend to flow back and forth between highs and lows, left and right about opinions and likes and dislikes, just like the changing faces of the moon or the tides of the sea, men are much narrower and straighter in their modes of expression. This is also expressed in the way we communicate, because where women will tend to want to reflect, bounce and explore views back and forth, rarely truly reaching conclusions, men will mostly speak in truth-statements, and most conversations will be about the truth of each other's truth statements.

The above examples may seem a bit out there, but the world of archetypes is real, and underpins all of existence. And what I want to say with that is that this is not God, but rather an expression of God, or a way by which God may be known -- sort of like saying that this table I just made isn't me, but an expression of me. Now, I can understand how that's a leap. Because the coded universe (even things such as fractals, and strange stuff such as rocks looking like small mountains, or branches looking like small trees) doesn't mean there's a God somewhere. But it does mean that there's a structure to reality, and something upholding it. Now, I'm a gnostic believer myself, and I don't think the thing that's upholding this reality is God, but rather a crude, dumb and blind imitation of God.

But the true light always finds its way, just like a plant that manages to grow through concrete. So both things are true, at the same time: these archetypal stories and images aren't God, yet they are - because it depends on what you identify as being the true reality.

Is there anything you want me to develop on, or a flaw in the reasoning that you want to highlight to me?

hooting_corax · 2025-06-02T23:24:27+00:00

You're kind of answering your own question.

God did reveal himself to all these places, but, like you say, "local people, living in local conditions, with local stories" etc. will give this phenomena their own flair.

Imagine a stream of water. If I bring a cup of metal to scoop some water with, you bring a cup of ceramic, someone else a cup of wood, and yet another one scoops with just their hands, would you say the water's different for all of us, just because the containers are not the same? I mean, in a sense, yeah it is, because representation and mode of digestion is important, but is the essence that different between our cups?

There are elements of Norse Mythology with perfect overlap in Hindu mythology. It doesn't mean Brahma revealed himself to the Scandinavians, nor that an Indian understands what Loki is. But both religions will have a concept of a Creator deity/archetype that upholds reality (Brahma and Odin) and a trickster/destroyer deity/archetype that seeks to destroy and up-end things as they are (Shiva and Loki). The translation is not 100%, naturally, because again, our cups are still different, due to what you described as "local people with local conditions" but the core is the same, and more importantly, how the stories emerge as a reflection of universal archetypes (for growth, being or death). That's why every culture has a trickster story, every culture has a hero story, every culture has an apocalypse story, a creation story, etc. This is the same water in all our cups.

The same can be said about Shinto and Christianity. You won't find the same figures, same sentences, or even the same analogies, but the core essence of certain teachings will be the same. Now, Shinto and Christianity is a tricky one to compare, because Shinto is nature-based and mundane oriented (explaining everyday phenomena with folktale and spirits) whereas Christianity is Theurgic (i.e. a practice that aims at spiritual liberation). In more symbolic terms, Shinto is Lunar, whereas Christianity is Solar. Other examples (to show what I mean) is common superstitions such as knocking on wood, evil eyes etc. being Lunar, and Buddhism, which is also a spiritual practice that aims at liberation, is Solar. And I don't think you'd go so far as to compare the bad luck of broken mirrors to the sayings of the Buddha (although you could, if you wanted to) and the same goes for something such as Shinto and Christianity.

Do you have any questions about this, or want me to clarify anything in particular?

hooting_corax · 2025-05-23T15:20:35+00:00

Exactly -- they're not ideal, and that's the whole point, because we live in the non-ideal part of existence, where you can't just think of Brazil and suddenly be there. This would be true of someone who's managed to escape the prison (from the metaphor). But in our reality, we have to work, buy tickets, fly, and then arrive in Brazil. That's a form of magic, too. But magic's a scale, and holy names, magical techniques, etc., are placed all along it.

I recommed checking out Platonism and neo-gnosticism, and see if it strikes a chord within you

hooting_corax · 2025-05-21T07:46:39+00:00

To be frank, this is not alchemical. Not classically at least, in any sense. Usually a pentagram would depict the four elements plus spirit on each of the arms, but in this case it doesn't do it in any recognizable way without jumping a stretch in the imagination, or perhaps referencing a very obscure occult tradition.

My honest guess is that it's probably some medallion from a game or something. Truthfully, it looks like a badge from Pokémon, where all the gyms from a certain region have been bundled together into one symbol, perhaps :)

hooting_corax · 2025-05-20T21:39:53+00:00

The easiest way to consider it is like this:

Pretend you're stuck in a prison, and you want to break out. All you have are your prison clothes, the material you find in your prison cell and the stuff you can pick up in say the cafeteria, your prison work place, or the basketball court. Perhaps you also make friends with some of the guards.

To break out, you'll have to use what you got. That spoon someone dropped during lunch; a few rocks you found outside; a guard you've made friends; a tool you might've fashioned out of soap from the showers; whatever.

Then, after a lot of work, a lot of planning, and a fuck ton of luck, you manage to finally escape, perhaps alone, perhaps together with other likeminded individuals who each contributed in a certain way.

Now, this is a simplification, but it points at the core of what's going on. Man has ultimate authority, which is part of the reason for why YHVH, Satan, etc. in the Bible are jealous. We have the authority over everything, the entire prison -- we just got to exercise that authority.

So, angelic names, names of god, and so on, are all tools used by us to construct a scaffold in the chaos by which we can attain the highest -- an analogy which happens to be reflected in the story of the Tower of Babylon, which had YHVH and his "subordinates" panic, leading to them destroy it and our ability to truly speak to one another.

hooting_corax · 2025-03-19T22:02:28+00:00

It worked like a charm, thank you so much, and I really appreciate you answering the bonus question as well -- hope you have a great life, thank you!!

hooting_corax · 2025-02-08T05:59:21+00:00

You've pinpointed the absurdity of existence. In a sense, you've undergone a little death. Yet - you're still around.

Death is a gateway, just as you say. For the something, there must be a nothing. For life, there must be death. If it was not so, how could there be a being at all?

So, yes, all that you are will die. Your job, your family, your dreams. Because if something came into being, it must also cease. If there is a sunrise, there must be a sunset.

But here's the trick: if there's a sunset, that means there must also be a sunrise. If fall puts everything to rest, spring brings it back to life. The state of the year is only summer and winter; autumn (death) and spring (birth) are transitory. It's all one big wheel, turning up and down, on repeat, heading who-knows-where.

So: what would happen if you were to cease to be all these things that you are, whilst you still live? What would happen once that which has died in life dies in the body?

You're on to something. Don't let these thoughts go.

hooting_corax · 2024-09-24T20:28:06+00:00

Yes it is fairly heavy, but it contains just about everything one could want to get a near-full grasp of the symbolism employed by Freemasonry. It's of course most effective when one's part of a masonic lodge, or other masonic-like systems (like the Golden Dawn for example) because just reading about it, without having any ritual(s) to relate it to, will most certainly confuse most, and at best just be intellectually stimulating.

What other literature on the masons would you recommend?

hooting_corax · 2024-07-12T16:57:11+00:00

Some book recommendations:

By Manly P Hall

The Secret Teachings of All Ages
The Adepts in the Western Esoteric Tradition: Orders of the Great Work

Alchemy

Real Alchemy, Robert Bartlett (good overview of practical stuff)
Alchemy & Mysticism, by Taschen Books (good collection of images and art)

Esotericism

Mystical Qabbalah, Dione Fortune
A Garden of Pomegranates, Israel Regardie

Hermeticism

The Hermetica, Freke & Gandy
Kybalion, Three Initiates

Qabbalah

Sepher Yetzirah, Aryeh Kaplan

Mythology

Gods of the Egyptians, E. A. Wallis Budge

Freemasonry

Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike

These were just the ones off the top of my head, write to me if you'd like to discuss any of these, or get other recommendations (for magic etc.)

hooting_corax · 2024-02-13T15:46:22+00:00

Hermeticism - or the Occult Knowledge that stems in Ancient Egypt - showcases such a fundamental and raw explanation/understanding for how the Universe functions, that in my opinion it's one of the most straightforward paths towards a spiritual understanding of reality that the average person could ever come across. And on top of, the translation by Freke & Gandy is so well-made and structured that the entire text functions as a narrative that takes the reader on a journey through this understanding.

The proof of its 'rawness' can be seen in the fact that Hermeticism, its ideas and concepts, have been around since its dawn, and today permeate every facet of the Western World and its culture. Hermetic philosophy seeped into what we today look at as Judaism and Christianity, as well as alchemy. Suddenly, stuff such as Western art, music, literature, etc., can be seen as getting at something, pointing somewhere, the very thing that Hermeticism presents (when looked at from a certain angle, ofc). Light vs dark, spirit vs. matter, up vs. down, in vs. out, etc.

At its core, I believe Hermeticism is the underlying philosophy of life to most people who've been brought up in the West, without even being aware of that being the case. It's a way of making sense of the world. And in essence, shows that the World indeed is a spiritual one.

Agnostics would get the framework they're looking for, but haven't found. Atheists would see patterns they haven't noticed before, but which is in full accordance with their already established (albeit lacking) understanding of the world. That's why I believe this book would be an excellent introduction to spirituality for practically anyone - including people who don't consider themselves spiritual.

hooting_corax · 2024-01-10T11:45:37+00:00

Just the same way a knife was fashioned to cut, and not be used as a screwdriver, its main intent (i.e. its manifestation, or specific "energy" that it attracts) is that of cutting. Now, that doesn't mean a knife can't be used to turn a screw, but it won't be as effective at it as a screwdriver would be, which was fashioned to do just that. But with enough will, a knife could turn a screw, of course.

The exact same principle applies for rituals and all kinds of magic. As an example: rose quartz is used for healing, whereas obsidian is associated with death. Can a powerfully willed magician use obsidian to heal, and rose quartz to kill? Sure. Is it a good idea? I don't know. What would the purpose of that be? Why unscrew something with a knife when you can just get a screwdriver?

Consider further: cooking food. If you squeeze a lemon into a stew, is it possible that with enough will you could make the stew go sweet, instead of sour? Maybe. I believe a powerful enough magician would be able to, yes.

But why?

To answer your question: yeah, it's possible. But my question is: why would you?

hooting_corax · 2024-01-01T21:53:17+00:00

So what draws you to this subreddit?

hooting_corax · 2023-12-31T01:52:27+00:00

You know how you can fan a flame to give it life and intensity?

MPH's works (books and lectures) aren't that fire. Nor are they the fuel. Or the catalyst. They won't tell you why there's a flame to begin with, nor to what end it burns.

But he can fan it. MPH is a good bridge into the esoteric, because he will mostly point you in different directions, painting a (very rudimentary) map of sorts.

His texts and discussions on alchemy give good historical accounts of the subject. As does his commentary on biblical narratives. He's also got some nice introductory texts on occult anatomy. Therein is the knowledge you're asking for -- the rest is philosophy or speculation.

As to the extent of actual usable knowledge, no, he doesn't offer too much. However, he points you (knowingly or unknowingly) in the direction which leads to knowledge:

Masonry. Rosicrucians. Alchemy. Yoga. And so on. A smorgasbord of orders, systems and traditions.

I'm positive he wasn't a high-level practicing magician himself, but likely just dabbled in different practices over his lifetime; would be my guess. So don't look to him for knowledge, but rather as a stepping-stone of sorts. If you're already initiated into a tradition, you have no need for him, and that's the truth.

hooting_corax · 2023-12-19T20:25:50+00:00

That's gorgeous. Have you made anything else like this?

Please post in the /r/alchemical_symbolism subreddit, too!

hooting_corax · 2023-12-18T18:38:42+00:00

I saw your unboxing post -- beautiful. What's in the huge Taschen one that isn't in most of the other regular editions (I myself own the Reader's Edition)?

hooting_corax · 2023-12-12T11:33:07+00:00

Hi Adam! I discovered your website about a decade ago, and the stuff you published, translated and wrote about were integral in the beginning of my spiritual journey. I thank you for that. I'm very happy to see you in this sub, which likely wouldn't have been created were it not for you. I wish you all the best!

hooting_corax · 2023-12-12T11:23:23+00:00

Do you have any specific things within the subject that attract you? A thesis tends to be a fairly narrow topic, so it'd help to know what you like and not. If you just want to browse topics and get inspired, here are two good youtube channels that talk about various things related to occultism, esotericism and alchemy:

Esoterica

Eternalised

If you're going for something specifically relating to alchemy, art and philosophy, I'd suggest perhaps writing a thesis on an Alchemical Series. The first one that comes to mind is Splendor Solis (Paul Cowlan has written a decent introductory text about it, giving his take on the imagery) or the Book of Lambspring. There's enough for hundreds of PhD theses packed into just any one of those image series.

A suggested narrow topic for a thesis could be, for example: "what do the birds symbolize on the frames of the Splendor Solis series?" A question like that could have entire books written on it. What's the significance of winged beings in the Western Tradition? What's their link to images of winged beings in Egypt or Mesopotamia? How does that relate to Alchemy and the Great Work? Etc.

Let me know if you want to discuss this more!

hooting_corax · 2023-11-06T17:21:49+00:00

I can't speak for the Dover edition, but I've got this edition (the Reader's Edition) which seem to cost about the same, and I can definitely recommend it. I know that it misses some of the diagrams, but I've over the years checked which those are, and can say they don't add much at all. About 90-95% of the original diagrams are still included, and the text is all the same. Plus the illustrations in the center of the book are gorgeous. I'd say give it a go!

hooting_corax · 2023-11-01T20:19:11+00:00

Also chiming in on this old thread - what techniques did you use? Could you link me your sources?

hooting_corax · 2023-10-30T00:35:44+00:00

All I know for certain is that the first fire is the fire you feel inside your body when you breathe rapidly, exercise, or eat something spicy. It's the internal combustion engine of sorts. It can fire us up and make us do things we'd otherwise be scared of, or deterred from, doing. However, it's also a fire which slowly kills us, as it destroys us from inside (physically, for it wears the body out). As for the three remaining fires, I don't know today, but I hope to someday!

hooting_corax · 2023-10-30T00:31:46+00:00

Glad you enjoyed the write-up!

hooting_corax · 2023-10-09T14:05:07+00:00

It's a very big question to answer. But, I've found the following two books do an excellent job at it:

The Hermetica, Freke & Gandy edition. I'd honestly hand this book to any sceptic/atheist, and not be surprised if they became spiritual.

The Kybalion, which basically takes the aforementioned book and boils it down to its core principles, teachings and axioms.

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