A rank rather than a person. Read the robe, the throne and what comes out of the mouth before you read the face.
Six works here carry a crowned figure, and the archive can read the king in three of them and the queen in none.
Where the king is read, he is read by his clothes and his mouth rather than his face. The Apocalypse describes the rider of the nineteenth chapter twice over: “And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood. And his name is called: THE WORD OF GOD”, and “And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he may strike the nations.” The painter of the sheet after the figures attributed to Flamel has drawn both, the flecked robe and the blade in the mouth, so the identification does not rest on a guess.
Hall's throned figure is the same kind of reading and it is unusually candid about its own liberties. “He sits upon a throne of flaming light and the flashes of the fire are subject to His will”, and then, of the robes: “In the Zohar His robes are said to be white, but they are here shown as red to signify that the garments of Divinity partake of the nature of cosmic activity.” That second sentence is worth more than the first. The plate departs from the text it is illustrating, and the caption says so in the same breath.
Crowned figures also come in pairs here, over the sun and the moon, beside Mercury, in the Splendor Solis copies. The archive holds those works and holds nothing that explains them, so this entry does not pretend otherwise. Whatever the queen is doing in this material, no source in the archive has yet said.
Contested
Three of the six works are unread. Hall is describing traditions rather than transmitting them, and his plates were drawn to his own instructions, so plate and caption are one voice. The Apocalypse identification holds only because the painter drew the two details the text names.
Sources
- The Apocalypse of Saint John, Douay Rheims, Challoner revision, : Quoted from the Challoner revision, the English text the archive uses for the Apocalypse throughout.
- 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.
Where it appears
Across the archive · 15
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 · 10
The Sun and the Moon over the King and the QueenEdith A. Ibbs, after Salomon Trismosin, Splendor Solis, 1900 to 1909a queen in blue and a king in red stand on spheres before a landscape; above them a blue moon with a face and a red sun with a face; the king's staff is wound with a serpent; the King and the Queen as the central motif, the Sun and the Moon and the Serpent by eye
The Red King, the Queen and MercuryHand-coloured engraving, maker not recorded, date not recordeda red king with a rayed face stands between a crowned woman in yellow and a figure in green carrying a caduceus; a band of stars above them; a row of small vessels along the ground below; the King and the Queen as the central motif, the Sun and the Moon by eye
The Ancient of the AncientsJ. Augustus Knapp, colour plate, 1928the Name in a triangle of light above the throne, hexagrams on the pillars; the Triangle and the Divine secondary, by eyeHall, 1928 “In the Zohar His robes are said to be white, but they are here shown as red to signify that the garments of Divinity partake of the nature of cosmic activity.”
A Queen in Red is Presented with Dishes of BloodAfter Nicolas Flamel, attributed, date not recordeda crowned queen in red stands between two men who hold out dishes to her; a wreath of flowers in the cloud above; below, a bed with figures in it and a man and a woman beside it; the King and the Queen as the central motif, by eye
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.”
Conjunge fratrem cum sorore & propina illis poculum amorisMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618a man and a woman embracing while a third holds out a covered cupMichael Maier, 1618 “Conjunge fratrem cum sorore & propina illis poculum amoris:”
Regem lupus voravit & vitæ crematus reddiditMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the wolf over the body of the king, and the burning at the right where he is given backMichael Maier, 1618 “Regem lupus voravit & vitæ crematus reddidit.”
Rex balneatur in Laconico sedens, Atrâque bile liberatur à PharutMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the crowned figure inside the sweating box, the fire under itMichael Maier, 1618 “Rex balneatur in Laconico sedens, Atrâque bile liberatur à Pharut.”
Rebis, ut Hermaphroditus, nascitur ex duobus montibus, Mercurii & VenerisMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618Mercury and Venus embracing below, the two-headed body standing on the mountain above themMichael Maier, 1618 “Rebis, ut Hermaphroditus, nascitur ex duobus montibus, Mercurii & Veneris.”
Rex ab aquis potatis morbum, à medicis curatus sanitatem obtinetMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the crowned king taking the cup from the physician, the sick man in the bed behindMichael Maier, 1618 “Rex ab aquis potatis morbum, à medicis curatus sanitatem obtinet.”
Secondary motif · 5
The Macrocosm and the MicrocosmJ. Augustus Knapp, colour plate, 1928a crowned, bearded figure with arms spread inside a ring of rainbow colour, mirrored below by his own reflection, a red figure held between the two pairs of hands; a globe surmounted by a cross above and below; the Heavens as the central motif, the King and the Crown by eyeHall, 1928 “As the universe is the reflection of the Ancient One, so the human body is the reflection, or inverted image, of man's spirit.”Central motif: the Heavens
Dealbate Latonam & rumpite librosMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618Latona seated between her children, the sun-headed Apollo and Diana, the books torn on the groundMichael Maier, 1618 “Dealbate Latonam & rumpite libros.”Central motif: the Sun and the Moon
Rex natans in mari, clamans altâ voce: Qui me eripiet, ingens præmium habebitMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the crowned king swimming and calling, ships and a town on the shoreMichael Maier, 1618 “Rex natans in mari, clamans altâ voce: Qui me eripiet, ingens præmium habebit.”Central motif: the Water
Hermaphroditus mortuo similis, in tenebris jacens, igne indigetMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the two-headed body laid out on a bier over the fireMichael Maier, 1618 “Hermaphroditus mortuo similis, in tenebris jacens, igne indiget.”Central motif: Fire
Dolo Typhon Osyridem trucidat, artúsque illius Hinc inde dissipat, sed hos collegit Isis inclytaMatthaus Merian, attributed, for Michael Maier, 1618the crowned body in the open coffin, the killers around it, Isis gathering at the backMichael Maier, 1618 “Dolo Typhon Osyridem trucidat, artúsque illius Hinc inde dissipat, sed hos collegit Isis inclyta.”Central motif: Death and the Skull
On the same plate
