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Alchemy artwork text
english translation of latin

Alchemy artwork text

Dichotomy
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Posted 12/05/07 - 06:25 PM: Subject: Alchemy artwork text	#1
http://www.theosophical.ca/Images/AlchemyDifficul... Hello, can anyone please help with a translation of the latin text in this image into english? Any help would be most appreciated. I think it may have something to do with mankind discovering science. cheers.
The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend. - Aldous Huxley

Kingt2
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Posted 12/18/07 - 10:17 PM:	#2
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/lumen.html Thomas Vaughan Lumen de Lumine [New Magical Light] London, 1651 I'm not quite sure of the actual context and meaning of the words, but what i see is: the invisible magical mountain the fantastic region [or region of fantasy] then i see: Thesaurus incantatus- perhaps a book of enchantments above the candle looks like Natural Light. or perhaps Nature's Light and im not sure about non nifi parvulis, but i think it means not made by little children... perhaps its a meaning that it should not be tried by inexperienced persons? do not take what i say as definite, i only offer what i think it may be saying and some context... Edited by Kingt2 on 12/18/07 - 10:37 PM
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' -Isaac Asimov

Goaswerfraiejen
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Posted 12/30/07 - 11:53 PM:	#3
"Thesaurus" is Greek (Demotic, I believe; ancient, at any rate) for "treasure"--as in "valuable object," not necessarily buried pirate gold. That's the only new info I can give you--Kingt2's covered everything else I could have said. EDIT: For the record, while I'm not 100% certain, I think that Latin retained "thesaurus" and its meaning from the Greek.

Cadrache
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Posted 01/04/08 - 04:26 PM:	#4
I also see the serpent biting its' tail, meaning infinity in continuation, the binding circle, 4 guardians, with the centre flame of what is likely truth(spirit). To more or less sum it up, no it is not 'science' as we claim science to be. it looks more like an attempt to quantify reality by the divisions denoted through magic and the like.

Dichotomy
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Posted 05/10/08 - 05:26 AM:	#5
Thanks for the replies. Well since we are all a little uncertain this is my speculation, with the help of a Latin dictionary – Scholae = school Magicae = magician/ wise man Typvs = type Mons = mountain Magorum = master Invifibilis = not seen / invisible Regio = region Phantastica = a world of fantasy / appearance Lumen = understand Naturae = nature Thefaurus = treasure Incantatus = song / story Non = not Nifi = unless Parvulis = infant Scholea magicae typvs = school of wise men / magicians: who are proto-scientists, like alchemists. Mons magorum invifibilis = The Mountain Master is not seen: nature is created by an unknown means. And probably the assumption that a deity is the master creator. Regio phantastica = A region of fantasy: Many things in the world are difficult to understand, they seem super natural. Lumen Naturae = Understand nature: the understanding of nature is enlightening. Thefaurus Incantatus = Treasure song: A story about the search for the treasure of knowledge. Non nifi parvulis = Not unless infant: Either you need to start at the beginning of time to unravel hidden knowledge, or, only mankind, conscious in its infancy, could possibly see natures secret mysteries. I see this image as man attempting to understand the mysteries of nature through religion and alchemy, which is a forerunner of sorts, to modern science techniques. Perhaps one of mans attempts to jump out of the dark ages of superstition, as symbolised by the flame of understanding/enlightenment. Or, as Cadrache said - an attempt to quantify reality through pre-science means.
The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend. - Aldous Huxley

espontaneo
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Posted 07/29/08 - 06:17 AM:	#6
Hello, See this 'not unless infant' thing, I got deeply into all this through the use of psychedelic plants Ill not disclose which ones, just now but their affects are so ridiculously similar to what I think these alchemical and hermetic images(not to mention all the Hindu and thanka art works and stained glass church windows and cathedral, city chambers masonry) are trying to show. Well from taking this plant(smoke),intertwining vines or snake like motion up my body, I was disintegrated and spiritually powdered? I thought,' this is how they take the soul', which was a big thought for me, as I had never realized my own nature in this way before...Then, feeling of being made of sand then blown by some kind of wind of the soul from right to left, whirling wheels or cogs spun in my body(especially in my chest, felling like broken heart or sinking stomach) my particles were scattered in spiral motion(clockwise) and I some how became the bristles on the feathers of a Chinese type dragon(like every moment of my life was a bristle forming, as this dragon like thing grew through time){the dragon was really two and its teeth were my teeth stretched out for a lifetime, left eye winks at me, I'm relaxed and fear free.. I think the teeth thing is also what the church would call Jacobs ladder, the teeth go up and the serpent goes down, snakes and ladders was mabey made because of this phenomena, if it is not to be reduced simply as an overactive mind on hallucinogen} Then the bristles, which were red became a red bristly garden brush that my parents had when we were kids and I found myself leaning against the wall looking( from the perspective of the brush, it also felt like I was part of the wall I was leaning against and in fact the entire scene which was unfolding) it felt like I was back in my childhood, all be it a brush from my childhood and I saw the twined dragons spiral into the sandstone walls and dissapear, they had created a new reality for me, I waited...memories of other parts in the journey came to me, something like the carpet tombola's you find in carpet shops, like pages of fibrous books folding over in every heartbeat and the strands of fibers were really individual cows making up herds of red cattle morphing into white or golden fields of corn and into cattle again, the memory of this was like a border or picture frame living and moving around my childhood scene...I thought ,' I remember the cows' and a growling voice said, 'oh, he remembers the cows...grrooowwwle...'..spiraling out of the sandstone was now two natty dreaded lion type things... braided beards of paving stone and sandstone blocks... In my mind I bookmarked them with the though . 'you look like... those guys...' they answered,' we are those guys' those guys being, the rampant lion you find on the crests and shields and insignias and masonry of Scotland, england and Europe etc...Peugeot car badge, alpha Romero.... From here everything was void but within the void little red/yellow concentric circles, like the little child in the picture is sitting on, began to flood my perception like the organic pixels of the mind, they seemed to be singing out in unison, they swarmed my vision and elegantly pieced back together my adult existence, there were billions of facets to me that concertinaed perfectly into place, my heart was full... I've had other experiences with plants which now I've found alchemy, which seems to describe the history of man and the herbs and fungus , I can begin to grasp at what I once thought ungraspable, there may be a truth after all, just not one that makes a lot of sense to others, those who experience this can mix it with external knowledge(others writings) and find great similarities, which is why this is a great time of learning, thanks for the internet etc...lots of love, love to here what you think, mushy peace...

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