Introduction
What does it mean to have our waters black or white, yellow
or red? I am going to introduce my address to this point in this post by
talking about the colours of the waters from the classical Alchemical point of
view, and in the next posts to follow I’m going to go into the point in a lot
more detail and depth.
The Four Colours in Classical Alchemy
In the study of Alchemy there are qualifications of the
mercury or the waters. This means that the waters pass through transformations
in quality, that is they start off as having a relatively dense, impure or raw
quality and pass through successive transformations to take on a more refined,
lighter and purer quality.
These qualifications of the mercury or waters in alchemy come
under the topic of the four colours that appear in the hermetic flask, or the
four stages of the Alchemy that are represented by four animals, namely the
crow or raven (black), the dove (white), the eagle (yellow) and the pheasant
(red).
Latin Names
The four stages or colours actually have Latin names: nigredo, albedo, citrinitas and rubedo.
Excerpts
What I am going to do in this section is provide you with some
excerpts from some writings that I feel are quite interesting concerning these
four stages. They are very synthetic in nature, so I have written some comments
to make each excerpt a little more understandable.
Nigredo
“Nigredo was a destructive, sorrowful stage – the moment where
an existing thing (a gold piece, for instance) was brought to dissolution. To symbolize
this dark moment alchemists often used figurative images like the Black Crow,
the Raven or the Toad (7)”
“The work begins with a seeking for the "Prima
Materia," a condition the alchemists coined to represent that original,
pure, uncorrupted state of the matter that is the basis of nature, i.e. out of the
Prima Materia the elements emerged. They also recognised that all nature is
renewed after dying away and that in order to grow, an organism must first die.
An apple, for example, has to putrefy before its seed can take root and produce
more apples. Of course, this "putrefaction" applies not only to the
material but also to the spiritual world. Just as material death is necessary for
the material rebirth of things, so spiritual death is necessary for the
spiritual rebirth of man. Thus the much sought-after act of rebirth is always
preceded by a return to the source of life - regeneration depends on a
"reduction to the primal matter," and fire is a most important
element needed to achieve this.”
Comment
This excerpt gives another angle as to why the waters are
black. The black waters is the colour or the state of the waters of the
beginner in the practice of Alchemy. Therefore as black has much to do with
death and putrefaction the black colour is indicating above all to us that the
person in the beginning with the waters black has to die so to be able to
refine the waters.
Albedo
“Continuing on the right path, often an intermediary state,
the so-called ‘Peacock’s Tail’ occurred – an explosion of colours in the flask.
Associated with the goddess Venus, the peacock was a beautiful display of all
the colours of the work (8). Mixing other substances in the flask, the
blackness of the matter eventually disappeared to make room for a whiteness
called albedo.
This sudden inversion of colours was a sign that the work
was going in the right direction. Albedo was usually portrayed in the form of a
White Eagle, Dove or Swan (9, 10). It was also associated with silver, and the
moon (11).The whitening was compared to the coming of dawn after a long night, and
embodied as a white Virgin (12). This was a moment of rejoicing, of hope; it
was a proof that darkness would not last forever.”
Comment
The white waters signal to the Alchemist that death is
occurring, and change in relation to one’s sexuality is taking place. Basically
a certain level of refinement has been actualised. Interesting that they refer
to it as related to the Moon. In esotericism and in the path, the Moon always appears (we create the psychological moon before the psychological sun) before the sun
and it looks as though the yellow colour has much to do with the sun.
Citrinitas and Rubedo
“The next state was citrinitas, yellowing, a stage that many
authors after the 15th century tended to suppress, or rather
compress into the last one, rubedo . While the albedo represented the moon – or
female, citrinitas referred to the sun – or male. The union of male and female
(the so-called ‘chemical wedding’) was often a symbol of the Work. From their
conjunction the hermaphroditic offspring – philosophical Mercury was born. This
phase – rubedo – was the triumph of the Work: the creation of the Philosopher’s
Stone in the form of a transparent red stone. This Stone, often portrayed as a
Phoenix, was supposed to perfect anything from metals to human beings,
bestowing long life or immortality (13).”
“Alchemists refer to Citrinitas as the stage of the sun, or
the dawning of the "solar light" inherent in our Being. Now the light
is no longer reflective as in the lunar or soul light. Its nature is direct and
it is all pervading (we do not experience it as having a source). This light is
"great and strong, as of a calcining fire." It is sometimes referred
to as the original Light or the Light that is pure, creative Intelligence. Some
alchemical texts describe it as the Divine Intellect (as distinct from the
human, mental intellect). It is said that the only true knowledge is revealed
to us when this Light becomes conscious in us.”
“The "yellow death" signals the end of the
influence of the "lunar light," as the consciousness is transformed
into "solar light." This "solar light" awakens the sense of
revelation and revelatory knowledge. Inner knowing is not arrived at by study,
reflection or deep thought; it is to be experienced as a direct revelation.”
Comment
Very interesting in that they say that the red colour is the
result of the union of the Moon - the white waters and the Sun - the yellow
waters. Anyhow the Sun is related to fire and so the fire can only appear when the
waters have taken on a more solar nature, that is the refinement and
consciousness to do with sexuality has been fixed in us and belongs to us.
These four colours are repeated in the waters of every body (astral, mental, causal etc.) and they also represent the four stages of the Great Work on a larger scale as
well. They on a minor scale represent the stage of the awakening of the
Kundalini in each body. They are also the colours of the skins of humanity.
End (827).
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