A Cryptic Key to the Alchemical Kingdom

What kind of door might an alchemical key unlock? The whole of alchemy is seemingly akin to a sealed vault — one in which even the keys themselves remain cryptic in their function. 

The image below shows one such key. It is an emblem known as the ninth key of Basil Valentine.

Basil Valentine’s ninth key

A 15th-century figure, Basil Valentine (Basilius Valentinus) is pseudonymous. One such pseudonymous author is likely Johann Thölde, a German publisher and salt manufacturer.

While image above is sourced from Michael Maier’s translation, as found in his 1618 work Tripus Aureus (The Golden Tripod), these emblems come from an earlier German work attributed to Valentine.

Colloquially called The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine and initially published in 1599, the work is a formative piece of alchemy’s visual and textual history. It is the aforementioned Johann Thölde who is responsible for publishing the work that year, leading to the conclusions of his authorship.

The original title of of the work is Ein kurtz summarischer Tractat, von dem grossen Stein der Uralten. In English, A Short Summary Tract: Of the great stone of the ancients. The stone in question is the Lapis Philosophorum — the Philosopher’s Stone which is the goal of the alchemical work.

The emblems, engraved by artist Lucas Jennis, depict a series of glyphed alchemical processes which lead to the Stone. Accompanying each image, a text is found containing code and aphorism.

Larger page detail containing ninth key

In German, these glyphed processes are called Decknamen (code names). Essentially, encrypted titles for key components of the alchemical process. As such, a given alchemical seeker would need to utilize a learned alchemical ‘language’ in order to decode and make sense of them.

Today, we will examine the ninth key — which is not only beautiful, but rich in symbolic import.

On the bottom portion of the emblem, serpents which appear akin to Ouroboros’ emerge from triune hearts. In the upper portion of the image, two figures male and female in appearance commingle in such a way that the cardinal directions are inferred. These figures have overlaps with depictions representing the dynamic interplay of oppositional qualities.

Four symbols are shown at the head and feet of each figure. Counterclockwise from North to East, one may find:

• A crow

• A swan

• A peacock

• An eagle.

These are quite familiar alchemical fauna, whose symbolism corresponds to stages in the alchemical process.

The crow symbolizes the Nigredo, or Blackening. The Nigredo is the initial, putrefaction phase of the alchemical operation. This is one in which alchemical starting material is cooked to a charred uniformity in order to commence with purification for further work. Often, the Nigredo is referred to by the term Caput Corvi, or Crow’s Head, in English.

The alchemical crow

The second animal, the swan, symbolizes the Albedo, or Whitening phase of the alchemical work. During the Albedo, a purification of the previously charred matter occurs as impurities are initially removed.

The alchemical swan

The third animal is the peacock, which represents a sub-phase within the purifying Albedo. This sub-phase is referred to as by the Latin Cauda Pavonis — the Peacock’s Tail. During this stage, a swathe of vivid and iridescent colors emerge from the whitened material. On the one hand, these colors represent the iridescent tinge that certain metals display upon heating. On the other hand, certain frameworks relate the Cauda Pavonis to the flourishing colors encountered in the splendid differentiations occurring during vision & dream.

The alchemical peacock

Finally, an eagle is depicted with its wings gloriously outspread. This creature represents the culminating Rubedo, or Reddening phase. In this phase, the rarefaction and refinement which precedes it reaches a final culmination — an apotheosis in which the Lapis Philosophorum is revealed and attained. In some cases, a solar sub-phase called the Citrinitas, or Yellowing, occurs just prior to the Rubedo.

The alchemical eagle

In all, a concise summation of the essential phases of the alchemical opus.

What then does the accompanying text lend to the image? Initially, it is logical to assume that the text makes clear sense of the accompanying emblem. While it does make sense of the image, certain planetary symbols — along with a number of decknamen — must first be navigated.

The beginning line of text for the ninth key reads:

“Saturn, who is called the greatest of the planets, is the least useful in our Magistery. Nevertheless, it is the chief Key of the whole Art, howbeit set in the lowest and meanest place.”

At first glance, one may rightly assume that the text is referring to the planet Saturn. Indeed, alchemy refers to Saturn often. However, this reference is chiefly symbolic in nature. Alchemical frameworks make use of the seven classic planets, and associate them to metallic elements. In no particular order these are:

• Sun (Gold)

• Moon (Silver)

• Mercury (Quicksilver)

• Saturn (Lead)

• Jupiter (Tin)

• Mars (Iron)

• Venus (Copper)

In turn, the passage for the ninth key is rightly understood as a reference to lead. This is no surprise: Alchemically, Lead is viewed as the basest and least valuable metal:

“the least useful in our Magistery.”

In the alchemical context of transmutation, it is Lead that undergoes a radical transformation into the Sun-associated element Gold.

In line with this process, the text of the Ninth Key details the transformation of Saturnine Lead:

“Although by its swift flight it has risen to the loftiest height, far above all other luminaries, its feathers must be clipped, and itself brought down to the lowest place, from whence it may once more be raised by putrefaction, and the quickening caused by putrefaction, by which the black is changed to white, and the white to red, until the glorious colour of the triumphant King has been attained.”

The Solar element of Gold is extensively associated with the figure of a King. Further, one finds that aforementioned phases of the alchemical work are present in the passage! The Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo are all present in the text, indicating that this process must be engaged to in order to transform Lead into the “triumphant King.”

Close detail of the ninth key

The passages above help us understand how alchemy functions as a symbolic, and even poetic, language. One whose grammar and syntax must be learned and assimilated, just like any foreign tongue.

Such decknamen are not confined to the Twelve Keys. In fact, nearly every alchemical text from the early modern era makes use of substitution codes, riddles, and symbolic representations.

Once a basic working knowledge of alchemical symbolism becomes engrained, the act of reading primary source texts can offer an exhilarating and challenging experience.

A poetic passage at the end of the text of the Ninth Key reads:

“If the whole world's nature
Were seen in one figure,
And nothing could be evolved by Art,
Nothing wonderful would be found in the Universe,
And Nature would have nothing to tell us.
For which let us laud and praise God.”

For Valentine, nothing wondrous, captivating, and transformative would be discovered in nature if not through art. Despite its challenges, the symbolic aspects of alchemy are perhaps best transmitted through these artistic means.

Center detail of the image of the ninth key

If nothing else, this modality offers the seeker a true challenge. At best, it offers the seeker a transformational experience of learning which is solidified through aesthetic experience.

Bibliography:

• Ashmole, Elias & Waite, Arthur Edward. The Hermetic Museum: Containing Twenty-Two Most Celebrated Chemical Tracts. 2013. Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.

• McLean, Adam. Notes on the 'Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine.' Published in The Hermetic Journal. 1987. Accessed via Alchemy Website.

• Principe, Lawrence M. The Secrets of Alchemy. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 2012.

• Stillman, John Maxson . Basil Valentine. A Seventeenth Century Hoax. Published in The Popular Science Monthly. 1912. Accessed via WikiSource.

Image Credits:

• Tripvs avrevs, hoc est, tres tractatvs chymici selectissimi, nempe I. Basilii Valentini… Basilus Valentinus/Michael Maier. 1618. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark.

• Tripvs avrevs… Basilus Valentinus/Michael Maier. 1618. Yale University Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.