Almost always a composite and almost always subordinate. Note what it is made of and whether it is bound.
Seven works here carry a demon or a monster, and two things are true of nearly all of them: the creature is assembled out of parts, and it is not in charge.
Assembly first. Hall describes the god of the Abraxas plate as “a composite creature, with the body of a human being and the head of a rooster, and with each of his legs ending in a serpent”, which is a recipe rather than a portrait. The same logic runs through the alchemical sheets, where a beast is a sum of animals and the sum is the meaning.
Subordination second. The Apocalypse binds its monster in a single sentence: “And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” The painter of the king with three crowns has drawn exactly that, a horned figure kneeling in chains at the edge of the fire. In the engraving of 1513 the Devil walks behind the knight and does not stop him, and Conway's phrase keeps him in his place: “accompanied by the Timespirit whom men call Death, and followed by the Devil that brings all things to their end”.
Goya is the exception and the reason this motif exists in the archive at all. In the plate of 1799 the creatures are not bound and nothing is holding them. Calvert's account is flat and terrible: “Bats and owls fly round a sleeping man, and place a pencil in his hand wherewith to reproduce his vision.” The monster is not fought here. It is collaborating.
Contested
Hall's account of Abraxas is a description of a type rather than of his own plate. Calvert is a cataloguer describing the Capricho, not Goya explaining it. The winged creature carrying the banner in Melencolia I is marked here as observed: Conway names the wings and the fillet and does not read the animal.
Sources
- Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, : Hall's text and plate captions, 1928. Transcribed here, not yet read against a printed folio.
- The Apocalypse of Saint John, Douay Rheims, Challoner revision, : Quoted from the Challoner revision, the English text the archive uses for the Apocalypse throughout.
- William Martin Conway, Literary Remains of Albrecht Durer, : Conway's translations and commentary. A nineteenth-century scholar reading the prints, not Durer explaining himself.
- Albert F. Calvert, Goya, an Account of His Life and Works, : An English account of the Caprichos. A cataloguer describing the plate, not Goya explaining it.
Where it appears
Across the archive · 11
Plates that carry the symbol, tagged by eye and not yet decoded: first where it is the central motif, then where it plays a secondary part. Each opens in the viewer; the key and the notes come with the entry.
Central motif · 4
The Sleep of Reason Produces MonstersGoya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes), 1799a man sleeps at his writing desk while owls and bats crowd out of the dark behind him; one owl holds a crayon out to his hand, and a lynx lies awake at the right. The title is written on the side of the deskthe manuscript commentary, in Lefort's French, 1877 “La fantaisie, sans la raison, produit des monstruosités; unies, elles enfantent les vrais artistes et créent des merveilles”
Appone mulieri super mammas bufonem, ut ablactet eum, & moriatur mulier, sitque bufo grossus de lacteMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the toad at the breast, which the motto names; the beast is the archive's nearest group for itMichael Maier, 1618 “Appone mulieri super mammas bufonem, ut ablactet eum, & moriatur mulier, sitque bufo grossus de lacte.”
Oedypus Sphynge superata & trucidato Lajo patre matrem ducit in uxoremMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the sphinx on the rock at the upper left, the body of the father below, Oedipus among the crowdMichael Maier, 1618 “Oedypus Sphynge superata & trucidato Lajo patre matrem ducit in uxorem.”
Lupus ab Oriente & Canis ab Occidente venientes se invicem momorderuntMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the wolf and the dog savaging each other in an open landscape; the archive has no group for either animal yetMichael Maier, 1618 “Lupus ab Oriente & Canis ab Occidente venientes se invicem momorderunt.”
Secondary motif · 7
Abraxas, a Gnostic PantheosJ. Augustus Knapp, colour plate, 1928a rooster-headed figure in armour, whip raised and shield on the arm, stands in a chariot drawn by four white horses, his legs two serpents; the sun at the upper left, a crescent moon at the upper right, the name ABRAXAS lettered below; the Sun and the Moon as the central motif by Hall's reading of the figure as solar, the Serpent and the Horse by eye; one body made of a rooster, a man and two serpentsHall, 1928 “The seven-lettered name of ABRAXAS is symbolically significant of his seven-rayed power.”Central motif: the Sun and the Moon
The Three-Headed Monster in the FlaskEdith A. Ibbs, after Splendor Solis, 1900 to 1909a crowned flask holds a three-headed beast, the heads red, white and black on a yellow, serpentine body; the Vessel as the central motif, the Serpent and the Dragon by eye; three heads on one body, sealed in the glassCentral motif: the Vessel
The King with Three Crowns and the Seven-Headed HydraAfter the figures of Abraham the Jew, from Nicolas Flamel, date not recordeda king wearing three crowns is enthroned on a cloud at the right while a green many-headed hydra rises before him; below, a red horned figure kneels and a winged figure in blue holds a key; riders on clouds at the upper left; the King and the Queen as the central motif, the Serpent and the Dragon and the Crown by eye; a red horned figure kneels in chains below the throneApocalypse 19:11, “And I saw heaven opened: and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true: and with justice doth he judge and fight.”Central motif: the King and the Queen
Melencolia IAlbrecht Dürer, 1514a winged figure sits with her head on her hand, a wreath of leaves in her hair, wings folded behind her; instruments of geometry and building lie about her, a comet and a rainbow stand over the bay, and a bat carries the title across the sky. The square of numbers on the wall is four by four, every row, column and diagonal making thirty-four, with fifteen and fourteen, the year, in the middle of the bottom row; the reading that names that square is modern and is not the archive's to give, so it is recorded and left unreadConway, 1889 “Action implies contemplation, and contemplation is the subject of the 'Melencolia.'”Central motif: the Angel and the Wing
Oedipus and the SphinxGustave Moreau, 1864the winged lion-bodied sphinx clings to Oedipus; by eye; the sphinx is a woman's head on a winged lion's bodyCentral motif: the Lion
Knight, Death, and the DevilAlbrecht Dürer, 1513a knight in armour rides between two figures: Death, crowned and snake-haired, holding up an hourglass from a pale horse, and a horned figure with a pike walking behind. A dog runs at the horse's heels and a skull lies among the roots at the foot of the plateConway, 1889 “They were intended to represent the Sanguine and Melancholic temperaments and to shadow forth the religious and intellectual spirits of the day.”Central motif: Death and the Skull
Ut Salamandra vivit igne sic lapisMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the salamander lying unharmed in the middle of the flamesMichael Maier, 1618 “Ut Salamandra vivit igne sic lapis:”Central motif: Fire
On the same plate
