Puns and teeth.

Source

The Nigredo (Blackening) Stage.

"A skeleton wielding a scythe and arrow stands beneath the Sun eclipsed by the Moon, signifying Nigredo (blackening) phase of death, decay, and transformation. Below, a dying figure representing Mercury lies dying his caduceus abandoned, a black bird pecks at the eyes, reinforcing the corruptive yet necessary dissolution of the old self. Two skulls labelled Salt and Sulphur lie beneath a hollow tree, showing that the foundational elements of the work have perished. In the background, incense rises from a vessel, hinting at purification to come, while a bush with red and white flowers suggests the hidden potential for rebirth. This pivotal moment in the Magnum Opus symbolizes necessary dissolution before the transition to Albedo (whitening) can begin."

Art: Sammlung Alchymistischer Schriften (German MS 3) 18th century, The John Rylands Research Institute and Library

"Dissolution is the First Operation which has to take place in the Art of Alchemy, for the order of Nature requires that the Corpus, Body, or Matter, be changed into Water which is the much spoken of Mercury. The Living Silver dissolves the adjoined pure Sulphur.

This Dissolution is nothing but a killing of the moist with the dry, in fact a Putrefaction, and consequently turns the Matter black."