Symbolica. Esoteric art, explained symbol by symbol.
The hand as a sign in itself: what it holds, where it points, which fingers are raised. On the Hand of the Mysteries every finger carries a sign of its own.
Hall, 1928 “designated the hand of the philosopher which is extended to those who enter into the Mysteries”
Hall, 1928 “the figure symbolizes the hand of a Master Mason with which he raises the martyred Builder of the Divine House”
Hall, 1928 To the Qabbalist, Hall adds, the crowned thumb is the One Power and the four fingers with their emblems are the four worlds.
Hollandus, 17th c. Nobody understands the hand and its secret signs, Hollandus writes, without first taking the philosophers' oath.
Access to what is deliberately closed. In hermetic imagery the key is almost never a key to a door.
Hall, 1928 “the Mysteries themselves, without whose aid man cannot unlock the numerous chambers of his own being”
Hollandus, 17th c. On the same finger of the older hand the key is common salt: salt, Hollandus writes, is the key in this Art.
Light that is carried rather than received. The attribute of the Hermit, and of anyone who has to go into the dark on purpose.
Hall, 1928 “human knowledge, for it is a spark of the Universal Fire captured in a man-made vessel”
Hollandus, 17th c. In the older hand the lantern is alum, without which no perfect work can be accomplished.
Gold, the perfected metal, and the illuminated intellect. The most overloaded symbol in the tradition.
Hall, 1928 “the luminescence of creation through which man may learn the mystery of all creatures which express through form and number”
Hollandus, 17th c. In the older hand the sun is sal ammoniac, the most powerful thing in the work after saltpetre and vitriol.
Guidance from something that does not move. Count the points before reading it: five, six and eight are all here, and no source treats them as one sign.
Hall, 1928 “the Universal Light which reveals cosmic and celestial verities”
Hollandus, 17th c. In the older hand the star is Roman vitriol, without which no perfect work can be completed.
Completion, and in the Kabbalistic reading the first sephirah, the point at which the work is no longer yours.
Hall, 1928 “Absolute Light, unknown and unrevealed, whose power shines through all the lesser lights”
Hollandus, 17th c. In the older hand the crown is saltpetre, which finishes the work as the thumb finishes the hand.
Living substance in a hostile element. In the flaming oval it is philosophical mercury, marked with Mercury's own glyph.
Hall, 1928 “The fish is mercury and the flame-bounded sea in which it swims is sulphur”
Hollandus, 17th c. The same in the older hand: the fish is mercury, the beginning, middle and end of the work, and the fire it swims in is sulphur.
Attention from outside the frame. Note it is almost always placed at a boundary rather than at the centre.
Symbolica Four eyes, one in each corner, each set in a disc among the wings. Hall's caption does not mention them, and the Hollandus hand has none. They are left unread rather than guessed.
The Hand of the Mysteries
The Hand
Decoded · 8 symbolsThe Hand of the Mysteries
Decoded · 3 motifsThe Magician (I)
Decoded · 1 motifQui Rosarium intrare conatur Philosophicum absque clave, assimilatur homini ambulare volenti absq; pedibus
Decoded · 2 motifsIn Chymicis versanti Natura, Ratio, Experientia & lectio, sint Dux, scipio, perspicilia & lampas
Decoded · 2 motifsThe Hermit (IX)
Decoded · 6 motifsHermes Standing upon the Back of Typhon
The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise
A Scholar in His Study ('Faust')
Decoded · 2 motifsThe Fool (0)
Decoded · 3 motifsThe Emperor (IV)
Decoded · 3 motifsThe Hierophant (V)
Decoded · 3 motifsStrength (VIII)
Decoded · 3 motifsJustice (XI)
Decoded · 6 motifsThe Devil (XV)
Decoded · 8 motifsBaphomet
Decoded · 4 motifsThe Man in the Pentagram
Decoded · 8 motifsIntegrae Naturae Speculum Artisque Imago
Decoded · 4 motifsMonochordum Mundanum, the Divine Monochord
Decoded · 6 motifsThe Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Microcosma
Decoded · 5 motifsJungfrau Sophia, the Virgin Wisdom
Decoded · 3 motifsFacundia difficilis
Decoded · 4 motifsThe idol Moloch with seven chambers
Decoded · 4 motifsThe idol Moloch with the children in his arms
Decoded · 7 motifsTabula Smaragdina Hermetis Trismegisti
Decoded · 2 motifsThe adept with the flask of the four elementsPictures worth keeping. Meanings worth checking.
One symbol a week, decoded.
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