MARGIRIS

"The Four Degrees of Heat.

The Sun travels in a year around Through the entire Zodiac, And renews with its light All herbs, trees, and flowers.

Therefore, one must learn the four degrees Of our work.

Which will then be a guideline for you In our accepted work.

It is Aries, Cancer, and Libra And then Capricorn, as I say: Choose freely among these Who is the first or second."

— Daniel Stoltzius von Stoltzenbergs Stammbuch, c. 1622-1628

Architrave with the sun god Helios in a Quadriga, from the Athena temple at Troy

300 - 280 BCE

Temple of Apollo 

Portonaccio, Veii (Veio), Italy

510 BCE

Etruscan

This sanctuary, among the most ancient and venerated on all of Etruria, was outside of the city and on a road leading to the Tyrrhenian coast and the Veii salt flats. Its most ancient nucleus was tied to the cult of the goddess Minerva and a small temple, a square altar, a portico and stairs from the road were built in about 530-530 BC in her honour. The three-cell temple with the polychrome terracotta decorations was erected in about 510 BCE in the western part of the sanctuary. Adjacent to the temple there was a great pool with a tunnel and a fence that enclosed the sacred woods. The temple was in honour of the god Apollo in his prophetic oracle aspect inspired after the Delphi model to which purification ceremonies were tied. Heracles, the hero made god dear to tyrants, and maybe also Jupiter, whose image we have to imagine on the central wall of the temple were tied to Apollo.

"The Golden Tablet of Solomon and Hermes"

"This mysterious science and miraculous art, in universal medicine, produces astonishing wonders, whether in the world or in nature. From a small quantity of matter, through theory and practice, it creates the most splendid gold, surpassing all earthly treasures in excellence and beauty. In this work shines the omnipotent power and divine authority of the Creator, who separated light from darkness and brought order from chaos. Thus the philosopher, imitating divine creation, produces the supreme medicine, the universal panacea, and the purest gold, accomplishing true marvels in this world. Whoever understands how to unite supernatural and divine art with nature may divide and multiply substances to an extraordinary degree, so that from the smallest portion countless riches may arise."

Hermogenes, Tarsensis: Des aufrichtigen Hermogenis Apocalypsis Spagyrica Et Philosophica Oder Wahrhaffter und untrüglicher Weg zu der höchsten Medicin, c. 1739

"The philosophical egg is one of the fundamental symbols of alchemy. It represents the world in miniature, containing all the forces and substances necessary for life. Within the egg, nature works to produce a new being. This process symbolizes the work of alchemical transformation. The shell represents the outer boundary, protection from foreign influences. Inside, the white and the yolk work together in perfect harmony to form a new being, a microcosm. The egg also contains the representation of active and passive principles, which are essential in the alchemical work: The white, the passive principle, represents the soul or mercury. The yolk, the active principle, represents the spirit or sulfur. Thus, the philosophical egg becomes the symbol of creation and transmutation."

— François-Nicolas Nöel, Atlas FM ICONOGR 2, Bibliothèque nationale de France

Conosci te stesso

"HERMES. Opinions about the universe and God are numerous and different, and I do not know the truth. Enlighten me, O Master, for I will believe only in revelation. INTELLIGENCE. Learn, my son, what God and the universe are. God, eternity, the world, time, generation (becoming); God creates eternity, eternity creates immortality and permanence, for its generation depends on eternity, just as eternity depends on God. Generation and time have two different natures in heaven and on earth—immutable and incorruptible in heaven, mobile and perishable on earth. The soul of eternity is God, the soul of the world is eternity, the soul of the earth is heaven. God is in intelligence, intelligence is in the soul, the soul is in matter, and all of this is through eternity. The soul fills the universal body that contains all bodies; intelligence and God fill the soul. Filling the inner, enveloping the outer, the soul animates the universe: outwardly, this great and perfect animal, the world; inwardly, all living beings. Above, in heaven, it dwells in identity; here below, on earth, it transforms generation. Eternity sustains the world through necessity, through providence, through nature—whatever explanation one may give. God acts throughout the universe. His energy is a sovereign power to which nothing human or divine can be compared. Do not believe, Hermes, that anything, above or below, is like God; you would be far from the truth. Nothing resembles the Unresembling, the Sole, the Unique. And do not think that another shares His power. To whom else could one attribute life, immortality, the change of quality? The world creates time, time creates generation. God’s essence, in a way, is goodness, beauty, happiness, and wisdom. The essence of eternity is identity, that of the world is order, that of time is change, that of generation is life and death. The energies of God are intelligence and the soul; those of eternity are permanence and immortality; those of the world are composition and decomposition; those of time are increase and decrease; that of generation is quality. Eternity is in God, the world is in eternity, time is in the world, and generation is in time. Eternity remains fixed in God, the world moves within eternity, time is fulfilled in the world, and generation occurs in time. The power of God is eternity, the work of eternity is the world, which was not created once but is always being created by eternity. Thus, it will never perish, for eternity is imperishable, and nothing is lost in the world because the world is enveloped by eternity." — Hermes trismegiste traduction complete precedee d'une etude sur l'origine des livres hermétiques par Louis Menard, c. 1866

De Prima Materia Lapidis Philosophici – On the First Matter of the Philosopher’s Stone

Allegorical depiction featuring the Red King (Solar, Sulphur principle) and White Queen (Lunar, Salt principle), each holding an end of a rod. At the centre, a double-bellied flask contains a hermaphroditic child (the Philosophers' child), above a crowned black bird surrounded by red droplets, and a deceased crowned figure symbolising death and rebirth. Above the flask, a radiant crowned amalgamated symbol for the Philosopher's Stone with the Tetragrammaton and antimony symbol within a triangle and the inscriptions IN HOC SIGNO VINCE ( Translation: In this sign, conquer) and Sacra Scriptura Tinctura (Translation: Tincture of Holy Scripture) above. Seven flowers grow from the flask's neck, each marked with planetary symbols with the Sun and Moon above. Four numbered stages are represented: 4. Element from God Fire, Air, Earth, Water; 3. Beginning" Sulphur, Salt, Mercury; 2. Seed – Man, Woman of Metals (Sun, Moon); and 1. Fruit – Tincture of the Art, symbolising the completed Philosopher’s Stone. Beneath the flask, an altar structure labelled Tabula Cabalistica supports a 3x3 planetary magic square, depicting symbols of Sun, Jupiter, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Rahu, Venus, Ketu, and Saturn.

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

Corinthian Bronze Helmet, Late 6th Century BC

La scoperta del famoso bronzo romano "Un pugile a riposo", datato 330-50 a.C. Attualmente conservato al Museo di Palazzo Massimo, Roma.