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Prima materia

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Prima materia

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Prima materia, prime matter, like the goal of the alchemical processhas various definitions, with no one definition considered prominent. This is because alchemists had personal definitions of prima materia. Many definitions even contradicted one another. They range from lead, iron, gold, quicksilver, salt, sulphur, vinegar, water, fire, earth, water of life, blood, poison, spirit, clouds, sky, dew, shadow, sea, mother, moon, dragon, Venus, microcosm, and so on. It is not surprising that Ruland's Lexicon gives fifty synonyms and more could be included.

Besides these definitions, which are partly chemical and mythological, there are the philosophical ones which have deeper meanings. For instance, in the treatise of Komarios one finds the definition of "Hades." In Olympiodorus the black earth contained the "accursed of God." The Consilium consigii says the father of gold and silver, their prima materia, is "the animal of earth and sea," or "man," or "part of man," that is his hair, blood, and so on. Dorn, student of Paracelsus, said prima materia was "Adamica," which coincides with Paracelsus' limbus microcosmicus. The materials of the stone are none other than sulphur and Mercuricus. Alchemists assumed man could complete the work of the prima materia because he possessed a soul. Not so stated, but assumed believed, the soul came from God, therefore, man was capable of doing God's work--alchemists function as God. Further works testify that the prima materia may be anything and may become anything. Mylius described prima materia as the elementium primordiale, the "pure subject and unity of forms." Prima materia is further described in the Rosariumas the "root of itself." Therefore, because it roots in itself it is autonomous and dependent on nothing.

Paracelsus, in his Philosophia ad Atheninses, declared this uniquemateria a secret having absolutely nothing to do with the elements. It fills the entire regio aetherea, and is the mother of the elements and every created thing. Paracelsus' definition is strictly scripturally based. He described it mysterious, prepared by God in such a way that there will be nothing like it again. It was corrupted beyond reparation, presumably by the Fall of Adam, and cannot be returned to.

The description which Jung gives to the works of Paracelsus and Dorn clearly identifies the reason or reasons why Middle Age alchemy took on a religious atmosphere. Not only did Paracelsus reconcile his professional views with his own Christianity, but he instilled them in alchemical thought. Using the Bible, Paracelsus and others, connected prima materia to God; "before Abraham was made, I am." (John 8:58) Since prima materia is supposedly the stone, also, this also demonstrated the stone is without beginning or end. Jung noted many Christians hearing this would not believe their ears, but it was plainly stated in the Liber Platonis quartorum, "That from which things arise is the invisible and immovable God." It must be admitted that probably just a few philosophers pressed to this extreme conclusion, but even its aspect makes their veiled allusions more transparent. Even though most of alchemical thought seems absurd in comparison to modern scientific thinking, it should not be forgotten that the Middle Ages greatly influenced present culture.

One should remember that the important difference between the alchemists and chemists was that the former looked back while the latter looked forward. The alchemists thought those before them, the ancients, had the secrets of the art; all they had to do was discover these secrets, which, perhaps, was part of their goal or quest. For the future chemists, as well as other scientists, their goal lied in discovering secrets of the future. When examining this difference and comparison one readily sees that most of the world population is still on the alchemical path. Most people cling to religious beliefs which at best give them superficial comfort just as the stone did for the alchemists. Most people are Paracelsan, they pray to God to heal them when sick but go to the physician to prescribe medicine to cure them. Paracelsus sought to keep his religious beliefs but was intelligent enough to initiate modern medicine.

One could say that current thinking that we are all gods because we have the spirit of God within us held by some, especially nature worshippers, possibly originated from alchemical thought. The English alchemist Sir George Ripley (c. 1415-1490) wrote, "The philosophers tell the inquirer that the birds bring us the lipas, every man has it, it is in every place, in you, in me, in everything, in time and space." "It offers itself in lowly form [vili figura]. From it springs our eternal water [aqua permanens]." Ripley said prima materia is water, the material principle of all bodies, including mercury. It is the hyle, stuff, mater, which God brought from the chaos. It is the black earth which Adam was made of and which he took with him from Paradise. Since this prima material contained water it also contained fire, as both were said to be within the philosopher's stone; therefore, it is believe the stone always existed coming from Paradise too.

This is why, this author thinks, that Jung said the Middle Ages influenced modern society. Perhaps not in the alchemical sense because modern chemistry and other sciences have proven to be more effective, but in the social-religious sense, it must be reiterated that Western culture is still on an alchemical path. Most Western societies seek to perfect themselves through a religion which has failed for thousands of years. Religious leaders resemble the alchemists in thinking those before them had the answers when religious history is lavished with stories of thieves, liars, murderers, those committing adultery, and so on. Religion has not changed human behavior, and thanks to the Devil it does not have to.

Even though, allegorically speaking, most if the world is on the alchemical path it is still not too late to follow the lead of Paracelsus; he recognized both good and bad in nature and used it to promote good. He acknowledged this when his critics said his medicines were poisonous. His response was that all things are poisonous; it's the dosage that matters. Although Jung demonstrated the similarities between alchemy and psychology, he never denied the pitfalls of each, the bad points that must be confronted and worked out. In this confrontation there is no easy answer or magic bullet, no prima materia or philosopher's stone. It is time to recognize the world is the hermaphrodite stone which man lives on. The world is both good and evil, both life and death; how man uses the world will determine the outcome of both the world and man. Man can continue seeking the stone in eternal heavenly salvation for himself, or he can, like the chemist, discover new ways in which everyone can live peacefully. The dosage or stone lies in the actions of humankind. A.G.H.

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Source:

Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy. 2nd. ed. (Transl. by R. F. C. Hull). "The Collected Works of Jung" Vol. 12. Bollingen Series XX. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press. 1970. pp. 317-327.

Rufus

King John Plantagenet

Red Hair is associated with True Royalty.

It is associated with the bloodline of the last of the Neanderthal Augments.

Human-Neanderthal Hybrids.

Earth-Gods created via genetic, psychosurgical and vivisectional augmentation by Space Gods.

Men like Arthur, Conan, Richmond or Aurakles.

Rufus 

" The nature of God and the Virgin Birth--these are leaps of Faith. 
But to believe a married couple never got down? 
That's just plain gullibility! "

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, 

in the Tower of London in 1603, 

attributed to John de Critz. 

A small painting of the Tower of London is shown in the top-right background, above the Latin words: In vinculis invictus (“in chains unconquered”) Februa 8 1600; 601; 602; 603 Apri. 

The arms of Wriothesley (Azure, a cross or between four hawks close argent) are shown on the cover of a book lying on the windowsill before the cat

A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,

Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;

A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted

With shifting change, as is false women's fashion:

An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,

Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;

A man in hue all hues in his controlling,

Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth.

And for a woman wert thou first created;

Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,

And by addition me of thee defeated,

By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.

But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure,

Mine be thy love and thy love's use their treasure.

Phenomelanin (as opposed to Eumelanin), associated with blonde hair, blue eyes, green eyes, fair skin and Red Hair is "a Mutation" of the Melanin producing human gene.

Redheads are Mutants.

"For me, personally, it's brunettes.

But redheads are the wildcard...."

David Lynch

No, it's an extremely thoughtful and insightful question, and Lynch's answer is extreme important and informative.

You notice, when he asks the "silly" question, there is some patchy laughter from one or two members of the audience (who think its stupid), but not from Lynch, (who knows that it is not). It only SOUNDS stupid.

He acknowledges the premise of the question, and then gives a serious answer, so the question itself is anything but stupid. And this of course is well known.

The fact that he uses women of different hair colour as avatars for various archtypes and aspects of the human psyche and the collective unconscious as expounded by Jung, most notably The Angel and the Dark Lady (often known as Liliith, the heavenly pariah FIRST wife of Adam before God created Eve from Adam's own flesh).

When Ben Horne first arrives at One Eyed Jacks, he greets Blackie by quoting (in full) Shakes-Spear's Sonnet 18, which is the first in the series of Dark Lady sonnets, which form an extended communication with the author's own Dark Heart, an acceptance and indeed love letter to his own potential for mischief, destruction and malice.

So when he asks him "Blondes or Brunettes?", the actual meaning behind the question and what he is answering is "Which do you find more enriching to your life? Virgins or Harlots? Do you seek purity or richness?".

People get into a lot of trouble, both psychically and psychologically, when they seek to deny that they have at least the potential for darkness within themselves and seek to distance themselves from immoral, even evil things that they have done, rather than accepting it as a part of themselves that they must comes to terms with.

This is the basis for all trauma (or Garambozia) - Leland Palmer cannot come to terms with the fact BOB used him to rape and murder his own daughter (and cannot live with himself), whereas Laura Palmer can admit to her shrink that her rough, incestuous sex with BOB was the best she had ever had, even after she realises who he is, and ultimately she is able to forgive him and allow BOB to murder her, which also saves Ronnette's life, allowing MIKE the opportunity to pull her clear from the old train-car. 

Which is why she get to go to Heaven, whilst Cooper is still stuck in the Lodge, unable to accept or get to grips properly with his own Dark Side - who is out there in The World, having hijacked his body, doing who-knows what with it, whilst he remains trapped in denial. When he first sees his Other Self, the corruption in his own soul inside The Lodge, his first response and reaction is first to avoid it, then to run away from it.

Meaning, of course, that it catches up with him (as always it must), overpowers him and consequently assumes complete control over his life and his entire existence. Not realising that when there is nowhere to run to, and no chance to escape or get away, running away is to admit defeat. 
Because he faced the Dweller on the Threshold of Life and Death with imperfect courage.

Only through acceptance can there be hope of victory - or, as Prince said, 
" I got 2 sides, and they're both friends."


Now, here's the thing about his answer, and why it's important and will affect your life as well as mine : almost every significant female character in Twin Peaks, other than Laura and Maddie has red hair - and as anyone who has ever dated one or been close to one will tell you, the old folk wisdom about their possessing a  firey nature is more than just an Old Wives' Tale - something about their personalities and their behaviour strongly suggests that they are somehow connected to something wild, mysterious and exotic.

Now, if you go onto the Smithsonian Website and look through the section on Human Origins, they will now tell you that red hair is recessive gene that is not found in early hominids or pre-humans, but is found in Neanderthal DNA, as a mutation which occurred after the species divergence occurred between pre-modern Cromagnon  proto-humans and Neanderthals - thus, in areas where there was cohabitation occurred, interbreeding and hybridisation occurred between pre-modern humans and Neanderthals, and red hair is the proof that that took place.

For that reason, and sue to the fact that the gene itself is recessive, red hair (amongst white people) has traditionally always been associated with high nobility and royalty right up until the present time - it seems to have been something that began around the time of the Norman Invasion,  several of the Plantagenet kings were noted for their red hair and ferocity, as well as Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and Oliver Cromwell.

Prince Harry to is second in line to the throne after his brother and Prince Charles, and he is a redhead - which is exceptionally interesting due to the fact that none of the Windsors are, and his mother certainly wasn't. 

She was a pure natural blonde. 

He's also known for his temper, or used to be, he seems to have calmed down a great deal in recent years.

Why is this important? 

If you read Graham Hancock's book Magicians of the Gods, he provides an excellent summary and overview of the wealth of geological evidence that exists and is now available for the global cataclysm and devastation which we now know appears to have occurred aound 12,600 years ago at the end of the last great Ice Age, at the end of the Younger Dryas Period. 

What APPEARS to have happened is that during a period when the permafrost of the polar ice cap extended down over much of North America and nearly all of Europe, the Earth was struck by a comet or comet fragment which exploded on impact or superheated the atmosphere, flash-thawing the oversized ice-cap and flooding everything, nearly everywhere, permanently raising the sea level and leaving countless previously inhabited regions of the planet submerged until this day.

One of the last places affected, and when surviors and refugees  of the disaster and were able to settle and regroup was the Pacific Northwest, and North America generally. This is whythis area is so strongly associated with the Moundbuilder Civilisation and it's remains and earthworks, the remains and skeletons of a race of Giants (such as Paul Bunyan, referenced by the Cohens in Fargo), and Native America creation mythology, with their oral tradtion, going back tens of thousands of years, of a far older race of giant men who came from afar, a wise and  noble race that became extinct, but taught them many things.

After getting shot, Agent Cooper is visited by the Lodge Spirit in the form of a Giant, who offers him information and declares his firm altruistic desire to prove him with help and give him the assisstance he requires in order to resolve the mysteries of Laura Palmer and succeed in solving the case.

In the last half of 16thC England there were to be found two ladies of immense wealth. Both had auburn hair they styled in similar ways, both had a long aquiline nose, both had a lower lip a little stronger than her upper, both had a passion for pearls, and both were called Elizabeth. Put all their portraits together and it is hard to tell one from the other.

A collection of portraits of Elizabeth I and Elizabeth of Hardwick

One lady needs no introduction – she was the Virgin Queen. The other was Bess of Hardwicke, born around 1527, and raised by a family of minor gentry in Derbyshire. Her early history is undocumented, and what is known of her family’s history before she was born dates solely to evidence provided by her brother in 1569, when he was providing reasons for his right to bear arms.

What is known is that she married four times: the first, undocumented, was to the 13 year old heir to a neighbouring estate. She married him most likely in 1543, but he died the following year. Then on 20 August, 1547, nine months after the death of King Henry VIII, she was married – remarkably well above her station – to the illustrious Sir William Cavendish, Treasurer of the King’s Chamber, who had made a fortune as an official of the Court during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Sir William Cavendish, possibly by John Bettes, 1544

In 1553, with the death of Edward VI, Cavendish’s means of acquiring his wealth came under scrutiny, and having been closely associated with the Seymours, and with Lady Jane Grey (who got her head chopped off for claiming the throne after Edward VI’s death), he lost his position at court, and was accused of embezzlement. He had tried to stay the right side of Edward’s staunchly Catholic successor, Mary I, but given such unfortunate associations, he was no longer in favour. He and Bess had eight children together, though, before he died on October 25th 1557, just one month after the startling birth of Robert Tudor.

On Mary’s death in 1558, the new Queen Elizabeth restored Bess Hardwick to Court, and again – rather remarkably – made her a key Lady of her Bedchamber. Soon after, Bess fell in love with Sir William St Loe, a good friend of the new Queen who had aided her when her life had been in danger, and who she had made Captain of the Guard, and Butler to the Royal Household – key positions ensuring her personal security.

Sir William St Loe

The two were married in 1559, but in 1561, a serious problem emerged. Bess was the friend of Frances Brandon, the mother of Lady Jane Grey who had been executed by Mary for claiming the throne in 1553. According to the will of Henry VIII, on Lady Jane Grey’s death, her sister Catherine had become second in line to the throne, next after Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth wanted her to remain a spinster, thereby reducing any threat to her rule, but in total defiance of the Queen’s wishes Catherine secretly married into the powerful Seymour family. Bess distanced herself from the marriage, but hid the news from the Queen, who, when she found out, flew into a rage, and sent her to the Tower.

Lady Catherine Grey

After seven months Elizabeth relented, and let her go home, but Bess and Sir William had no children together, and soon after, in 1565, he died under very suspicious circumstances. Bess thus became one of the wealthiest women in the country, with an annual income equivalent to around £14 million in present day terms. The Queen forgave her at this point, and she returned to court once more, only to find that the tutor to her sons had been spreading slanderous rumours about her. The nature of the slander was suppressed, and the Queen was so upset by what he had been saying that she ordered him to suffer public corporal punishment, a most vindictive punishment for someone of his rank. His slander must have been serious indeed.

In 1567 Bess again married, and again inexplicably far above herself, to the Earl of Shrewsbury, the richest nobleman in England.

Rowland Lockey ‘The Earl of Shrewsbury’ 1580

On the 2 May, 1568, Mary Queen of Scots fled from Scotland and sought refuge in England, to the consternation of the Queen. Mary had a claim not only to Scotland, but to the English throne as well, and could not easily be disposed of, being a Queen in her own right. Elizabeth summoned the Shrewsburies to court, and entrusted them with one of the most important roles she delegated to anyone in her entire reign: that of keeping Mary Queen of Scots prisoner, and preventing her from conspiring against her. This the Shrewsburies loyally did for the next sixteen years, until 1584, moving home to another of their estates each time a plot to rescue Mary was discovered.

Rowland Lockey ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ 1585

In 1574/5 a serious situation developed involving Bess’s daughter, Elizabeth. The girl met, fell in love with, got pregnant by, and then married Charles Stuart, the brother of Mary Queen of Scots’ former husband, Lord Darnley. Like Darnley, Charles was the son of the Countess of Lennox, who herself was the daughter of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland – and daughter of King Henry VII of England. Bess had married her daughter into the Royal families of both England and Scotland without the knowledge or permission of the Queen, and she and the Countess of Lennox were both promptly consigned to the care of the Tower of London.

Lady Arabella Stuart, c.1590

By January 1575 she was back home, though. Her daughter Elizabeth and Charles Stuart were expecting their first and only child, Arabella, and under the terms of succession, Bess felt Arabella had a good chance to succeed Elizabeth on her death. To that purpose, she began casting about for a suitable husband, and after a while came up with the infant Lord Denbigh, the son of the Earl of Leicester and the widowed Countess of Essex… She could hardly have contrived to upset the Queen more: the Earl of Leicester, after all, was the Queen’s former love, Robert Dudley… and so summoned to London by the Queen, Bess was likely invited to consider a third stay in the Tower. Judiciously, she assured the Queen of her loyalty, and took no further part in trying to arrange a marriage for Arabella, whose future the Queen took under her own wing, and the infant Lord Denbigh promptly died, pruning any future growth to that disconcerting branch of the family tree.

Bess turned instead to the construction of a home worthy of a future Queen of England… Hardwicke Hall… and thus came to be known as Bess of Hardwicke. In the meantime, though, another problem had emerged: Bess became concerned at the amount of time Mary Queen of Scots and her husband were spending together, and tried to resolve the matter by becoming Mary’s constant companion, spending months on end together with her, engaging in talk and much needlepoint.

After a while, though, Bess became aware that her husband was being unfaithful with one of her serving wenches, indeed, catching him in flagrante delecto. Rumours began circulating that the serving maid was not the only object of Shrewsbury’s attention, and that Mary Queen of Scots had not only taken his eye, but that she had already secretly borne two children by him.

The Queen was horrified, and Bess was summoned to Court, and swore on her knees that the news of Mary’s inappropriate children was totally untrue, and signed a declaration to that effect. Elizabeth seemingly accepted this, but the Earl of Shrewsbury blamed Bess, and the two separated, never to be reconciled. Mary, Queen of Scots was removed from Shrewsbury’s protection, and executed after the Babington Plot in February 1587, and Shrewsbury died in 1590, making Bess – most improbably, considering her apparently humble origins – the richest woman in England after the Queen. And still, even by 1590 she remained the double of the Queen, with the same red hair, the same nose, the same lips, and the same love for pearls… as this portrait dated 1583 tells:

The Countess of Shrewsbury, Bess of Hardwicke, c.1580

But there is far more here than readily meets the eye. If we progressively darken her face and increase the tonal contrast, we find a bombshell written in the faintest of brushstrokes. In just one sentence, the painter explains all the many inexplicabilities of Bess of Hardwicke’s life.

Detail of Bess’s face, from the 1580 portrait of her

‘Sesso 25’ he says across her forehead, then on her temple ‘nata 26’: …sex in 1525, born in 1526. And from her other temple beneath her eye, the traditional declaration that she was the ‘Figlia de’… The artist is writing in Italian, and about to tell us who her parents were.

Detail of Bess’s face, showing her true family origins: click on the picture to enlarge it.

‘Sesso 25, nata 26, figlia de’, he continues… ‘Henry VIII’ and ‘Anne Boleyn’. 

Bess of Hardwicke was the first daughter of Henry VIII and Anne, back in the early days when she first joined the court as lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon. 

Bess of Hardwicke, named after Henry’s mother, was the elder sister of Queen Elizabeth I.

That is why she could come from obscurity to the court of Edward VI, and how she came to marry the Treasurer of the King’s Chamber, Sir William Cavendish. That is why she fell from grace under the reign of Mary I in 1553, and why in 1558 Elizabeth chose her as a key Lady in Waiting. Bess could be trusted. This was how it was she could marry the Captain of Elizabeth’s guard, Sir William St Loe, and how it was she could meddle in the dynastic politics of Elizabeth’s court and not only survive but be forgiven and then return to court. It was how she could marry the richest nobleman in the Realm, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and how he could be trusted to keep Mary Queen of Scots safely captive for 16 years. It explains, too, how she could then again meddle  with the line of succession by marrying her daughter into the English and Scottish royal families – and once again survive and be forgiven. It explains too why she was the spitting image of the rather the illustrious Virgin Queen.

But how could a mere artist know all this? Well, he signed that portrait of Bess Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury. 

He signed it on her ruff, using the name ‘Robert Tudor’. 

The artist was Elizabeth’s son, and the Countess of Shrewsbury’s nephew. He would have known, for sure, what his mum and aunty were up to.

But our story is not yet done… This was not the only portrait of Robert’s aunt that art history considers significant: there is another painting we must look at, too, one holding yet another surprise…

(to be continued)