THE FOURTH TABLET

ABRAHAM THE JEW

The main subject of this tablet is a crucified snake. The snake as you know is an animal cold and poisonous. So, its alchemical symbolism will refer to a mineral or a metal cold and poisonous too.

Why was snake the crucified?

On the left side crucifix arm where the snake is nailed and on right side of the nail you can see the spagyric symbol of the Mars.

On the right side arm and on right side of the nail you can see a symbol like a number 8. Here, this symbol makes no sense alchemicaly. We see it with a magnifying glass and it is a cruciferous globe badly defined.

Then what meaning, symbolically, has the snake?

It is easily understand because of the two spagyric symbols: Mars and the Globe cruciferous. Indeed the snake is Saturnie as it was called by Flamel in the Testament, and it is cold and poisonous like a snake.

Why, then, was Saturnie crucified? It was crucified (dead) in order to make the philosophical amalgam.

Next. On top of the crucifix we see the spagyric symbol of the Sun and in the centre - Mercury. They, with Saturnie together, are the philosophical amalgam that will be later distilled.

But there is more. Look at the bottom of the crucifix. What do you see? The Moon and amalgam (the small circles as you can see in illustration p209 in L'Alchimie de Flamel) spagyric symbols!

Alchemicaly the cross or crucifix can symbolize two things: a crucible or death (putrefaction of the composite).

Here the crucifix means symbologicaly the death of the composite (philosophical amalgam), the Sun or Moon (sulphur) and the Mercury.

Male and female, this is the Androgynynous!

Illustration from L'Alchimie de Flamel, Editions Savary, 42 rue Barbés, 11000 Carcassonne, France.