Post by Brainiac on Mar 13, 2017 19:05:02 GMT -6
Per a discussion in the Discord, I think it's appropriate to mention that the choice of the name Miriam is quite significant to the history of alchemy, as seen here:
"Miriam the Jewess (sometime in the 1st to 4th century AD).
Maria the Jewess (or Maria Prophetissima, Maria Prophetissa, Mary Prophetissa, Miriam the Prophetess) is a figure appearing first in the works of the Gnostic Christian writer Zosimos of Panopolis.
Zosimus’ sources are not clear, and may be developed from Miriam, sister of Moses, but on the basis of his comments she is estimated to have lived anywhere between the first and third centuries AD. She is attributed with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first nonfictitious alchemist in the Western world.
...
Though none of her writings have survived, quotes credited to her are found in hermetic writings. The most notable of those quotes is found in an extract made by an anonymous Christian philosopher, named The Dialogue of Mary and Aros on the Magistery of Hermes, in which are described and named operations that would later be the basis of Alchemy, leukosis (whitening) and xanthosis (yellowing). One was made by grinding and the other by calcination. This work describes for the first time an acid salt and other acids that can be identified with acetic acid. There are also several recipes for making gold, even from root vegetables such as the Mandragora.
Several cryptic alchemical precepts have been attributed to Maria Prophetissa. She is said to have spoken of the union of opposites:
Join the male and the female, and you will find what is sought.
The following was known as the Axiom of Maria:
One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth.
Psychologist Carl Jung used this as a metaphor for the process of wholeness and individuation."
"Miriam the Jewess (sometime in the 1st to 4th century AD).
Maria the Jewess (or Maria Prophetissima, Maria Prophetissa, Mary Prophetissa, Miriam the Prophetess) is a figure appearing first in the works of the Gnostic Christian writer Zosimos of Panopolis.
Zosimus’ sources are not clear, and may be developed from Miriam, sister of Moses, but on the basis of his comments she is estimated to have lived anywhere between the first and third centuries AD. She is attributed with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus and is considered to be the first nonfictitious alchemist in the Western world.
...
Though none of her writings have survived, quotes credited to her are found in hermetic writings. The most notable of those quotes is found in an extract made by an anonymous Christian philosopher, named The Dialogue of Mary and Aros on the Magistery of Hermes, in which are described and named operations that would later be the basis of Alchemy, leukosis (whitening) and xanthosis (yellowing). One was made by grinding and the other by calcination. This work describes for the first time an acid salt and other acids that can be identified with acetic acid. There are also several recipes for making gold, even from root vegetables such as the Mandragora.
Several cryptic alchemical precepts have been attributed to Maria Prophetissa. She is said to have spoken of the union of opposites:
Join the male and the female, and you will find what is sought.
The following was known as the Axiom of Maria:
One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth.
Psychologist Carl Jung used this as a metaphor for the process of wholeness and individuation."
yey