sirena de dos colas

Latin text

Writer of the gospel and a lion

Péricopes des Evangiles. Introduites

Two tailed siren, initial letter. Manuscript from Cadouin Abbey, Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgord digital library, about 1200- 1225 CE. Archives - Ms 165, folio 66.

I love how fantastically weird this image is. Yes, that’s a fish-legged fish eating a two tailed siren. The P stands for the apostle Paul. More info from the library:

“This word begins Paul's Epistle to the Romans in this lectionary for ordinary days, a manuscript from Cadouin Abbey. A lectionary is a liturgical book containing the texts to be read during ceremonies (Mass, baptism, etc.)”

While single tailed mermaids are popular in marginalia in books in the middle ages, gracing everything from Books of Hours to Psalters, two tailed sirens aren’t as common in these texts. I’m not sure why, but it may have to do with that most two tailed sirens are in common in sculpture, in particular, Romanesque church art, and weren’t common as illustrations until the 1400s. I’ve only found a couple examples of two tailed sirens in a bestiary, two examples of them in Hebrew texts, and a handful of examples in Christian texts. Let’s take a look at them.

The first is from a 12th century book about religious law, and has a pair of two tailed sirens in the margins:

Two tailed sirens, 12th century. Princeton, Princeton University Library. MS Garrett 97, fol. 127v. Full post on them here.

The book is “An incomplete transcription of a constitution of 1251 "Cum in concilio Lugduniensi" by Pope Innocent IV” according to Princeton’s website.

Our next siren is amazingly weird, and isn’t technically marginalia, as she’s an initial letter:

Two tailed siren, initial letter. Manuscript from Cadouin Abbey, Archives départementales de la Dordogne, Périgord digital library, about 1200- 1225 CE. Archives - Ms 165, folio 66.

Yes, that’s a fish-tailed fish eating a two tailed siren. The P stands for the apostle Paul. More info from the library:

“This word begins Paul's Epistle to the Romans in this lectionary for ordinary days, a manuscript from Cadouin Abbey. A lectionary is a liturgical book containing the texts to be read during ceremonies (Mass, baptism, etc.)”

Our next siren is crowned, in a book called Pontifical de Guillaume Durand, published 1357. Durand was a French liturgical writer, canonist, and bishop.

Pontifical de Guillaume Durand, published 1357. Page 134. Internet Archive.

Our last siren I found on Facebook, and I can’t find any info about her:

If anyone knows the source of this image, or has seen more two tailed sirens in medieval manuscripts, please let me know!

Two tailed siren, initial letter in Psalm 110. Troyes , BM , 0976 Psalter in Latin. Western France, 11th-12th century. The B is for: ”Beati immaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege Domini. Beati qui scrutantur..."

Illustrations from Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch (Augsburg Book of Miracles)

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."