Our Lady of Light
by Andrew Rutajit
I have such affection toward alchemy; yet, at times, I find it to be a seemingly endless rabbit hole. However, there are parallels between Alchemy and most religious symbolism and philosophy. Finding these parallels will surely provide nothing more than an "Ah-Ha moment" but sometimes those moments can lead to bigger things.
For example, the word “GOD” is such a loaded and stereotypical word, many choose not to use it. A Freemasonic substitution for this word is “The Great Architect of the Universe.” A “mason” is someone who builds or works with stone or brick, so their name for God is quite fitting. An Alchemist might say that God is the “Perfect Alchemist”. The meaning is the same to each individual school of thought.
This
art is by Nicholas Flamel and it reflects details from the book of
Revelation. Nicholas Flamel (1330-1418) was the most celebrated and
most successful of France’s alchemical adepts. The image is one of
Flamel’s many alchemical illustrations but it should look familiar to
you even if you have never heard the word “Alchemy.”
In this image, you will notice a woman standing in front of the sun…the Light, or she is “clothed in the sun” to be poetic about it. You will also notice that she has a crown of stars on her head, and she is pregnant. She has the wings of eagles on her back and she is standing upon a cresset moon. To her right is a leviathan-like serpent with seven heads and it is sweeping stars out of the sky with it’s tail.
Below is a side-by-side of this image with “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Mexican equivalent of the Catholic Virgin. Notice that she too is clothed with the sun, the crescent moon is below her, the little angles are placing a crown on her head, and below her is a leviathan-like serpent with seven heads. The stars that the leviathan was sweeping out of the sky in the Alchemical image are now hidden in the clothing of the goddess.
As shown below, just prior to sunrise, on the eastern horizon, on Christmas morning, you will find Virgo stepping on the head of Serpens. The morning sun will rise just below Virgo on this particular morning, as though she were giving birth to it. This is the mythological birth of the sun god - Born of a Virgin as described in “Astrotheology & Shamanism”.
The story of The Woman and the Dragon is found in Revelation 12, where it reads -
I have such affection toward alchemy; yet, at times, I find it to be a seemingly endless rabbit hole. However, there are parallels between Alchemy and most religious symbolism and philosophy. Finding these parallels will surely provide nothing more than an "Ah-Ha moment" but sometimes those moments can lead to bigger things.
For example, the word “GOD” is such a loaded and stereotypical word, many choose not to use it. A Freemasonic substitution for this word is “The Great Architect of the Universe.” A “mason” is someone who builds or works with stone or brick, so their name for God is quite fitting. An Alchemist might say that God is the “Perfect Alchemist”. The meaning is the same to each individual school of thought.
This
art is by Nicholas Flamel and it reflects details from the book of
Revelation. Nicholas Flamel (1330-1418) was the most celebrated and
most successful of France’s alchemical adepts. The image is one of
Flamel’s many alchemical illustrations but it should look familiar to
you even if you have never heard the word “Alchemy.”In this image, you will notice a woman standing in front of the sun…the Light, or she is “clothed in the sun” to be poetic about it. You will also notice that she has a crown of stars on her head, and she is pregnant. She has the wings of eagles on her back and she is standing upon a cresset moon. To her right is a leviathan-like serpent with seven heads and it is sweeping stars out of the sky with it’s tail.
Below is a side-by-side of this image with “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Mexican equivalent of the Catholic Virgin. Notice that she too is clothed with the sun, the crescent moon is below her, the little angles are placing a crown on her head, and below her is a leviathan-like serpent with seven heads. The stars that the leviathan was sweeping out of the sky in the Alchemical image are now hidden in the clothing of the goddess.
As shown below, just prior to sunrise, on the eastern horizon, on Christmas morning, you will find Virgo stepping on the head of Serpens. The morning sun will rise just below Virgo on this particular morning, as though she were giving birth to it. This is the mythological birth of the sun god - Born of a Virgin as described in “Astrotheology & Shamanism”.
The story of The Woman and the Dragon is found in Revelation 12, where it reads -
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.
So
this is the Cosmic Christ – who else would get snatched up to god and
to his throne, but the Son of God? After all, if God gave his only
begotten son, he must have had an only begotten son to give. And this
son will rule all nations with an iron scepter.
In these images, both Jesus and Mary hold the iron scepter.
In the Nag Hammadi text…which is older than the bible, and the origin of many of the stories in the bible itself…You can find a very interesting story of the “origin of the world.” As the story goes -
Sophia sent her daughter Zoe, being called Eve, as an instructor, in order that she might make Adam, When Eve saw her male counterpart cast down, she had pity upon him, and she said, "Adam! Become alive! Arise upon the earth!"
And then what happened?
Immediately her word became accomplished fact. For Adam, having arisen, suddenly opened his eyes. When he saw her, he said, "You shall be called 'Mother of the Living'. For it is you who have given me life." Then the authorities were informed that their modeled form was alive and had arisen, and they were greatly troubled. They sent seven archangels to see what had happened.
They came to Adam. When they saw Eve talking to him, they said to one another, "What sort of thing is this luminous woman? For she resembles that likeness which appeared to us in the light.
So what did they do to her?
Now come, let us lay hold of her and cast our seed into her, so that when she becomes soiled she may not be able to ascend into her light. Rather, those whom she bears will be under our charge. But let us not tell Adam, for he is not one of us. Rather let us bring a deep sleep over him. And let us instruct him in his sleep to the effect that she came from his rib, in order that his wife may obey, and he may be lord over her."
So the gods or Authorities, or land-lords are forcing a patriarchal setting. I call them LandLords, but they are also the “seven of them” – in the older texts, these seven authorities tell Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of Knowledge.
In the newer version…the bible…these seven land lords simply become the LORD in all capital letters. They are by no means God or the Great Architect of the Universe…they represent the governing body of the Garden of Eden.
So, this fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil…did contain poison? Is that what God was warning them about? Eat this and you will die resembles something that is poisonous but the biblical serpent assured Eve that she would not die -
"Genesis 3:5-7
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened...
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