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Colours of the Waters - (827)

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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