This series of posts explores The Book of Lambspring. A copy of the 1556 version of The Book of Lambspring is available here:
Zentralbibliothek Zürich / [Alchemistisches L… [6
(On the left side of the screen, you can click on PDF and download a copy of the text.)
Larger versions of the images are available here: The Book of Lambspring, 1556 | Compendium Naturalis
The first figure of The Book of Lambspring is of two “fish” swimming in the sea. (The “fish” have blowholes, so they are really not fish, but dolphins.) The water is choppy. The ship in the background has its sails unfurled, billowing in a strong wind. In the distance, a mountainous coastline is visible. In the sky, clouds. And light is peeking over the horizon, while the zenith is still dark.
The author clarifies that the Sea is the Body and the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit.
The text instructs the reader that the two fish are really one (foreshadowing that the Soul and Spirit will eventually be united with the Body) and that they need to be cooked together in their own water. Cooking requires heat, so this hints that the beginning of the Nigredo stage is coming. And cooking in their own water again implies the Wet or Lunar Path.
Finally, the author ends with a warning for the aspiring alchemist to be silent—the alchemist’s work should remain a secret.
First, let us unpack the symbolism of the Sea. Helle, the daughter of the cloud-nymph Nephele, fell into the Sea. The Sea is not the same as the Ocean. The Ocean is Cosmic; the Sea is individual. And though the Sea is the Body, it is a Body of a Soul and Spirit ready to embark on a journey. The Body is frequently associated with instincts, unconscious reactions to stimuli. Since the fishes are swimming on the surface of the water, partly in the Air and partly in the Water, they are not fully unconscious and not fully conscious. The Sea is associated with the subconscious.
Now let us consider the “fish”. Dolphins are liminal creatures, inhabiting the boundary between the sea and the air. They are associated with Dionysus, transformation, and guidance (sometimes even considered psychopomps). One of the dolphins pictured in Lambspring has two blowholes, which is not anatomically correct, but reinforces the idea of duality and polarity.
The obvious polarity is Water (the Sea) being feminine and Air being masculine. (This also ties back to the shield of the preface.) The dolphins are separated and facing each other.
Sunrise indicates the Soul is becoming aware, awareness being the movement from Unity to Duality and the beginning of Consciousness. The fishes observe the ship, catching the Air in its sails. Air is associated with the Mental Plane. The clouds are reminiscent of Nephele, Helle’s cloud-nymph mother.
In Greek mythology, the Sky (Air) is the domain of Zeus and represents the supra-conscious (the Mental Body that is, for most of us, still early in development). The Sea (Water) is the domain of Poseidon and represents the subconscious. The Underworld (Earth) is the domain of Hades and represents the unconscious. Where the Earth, Sea, and Sky meet is the realm of the conscious.
Though the conscious is merely in the background in this image, it will be much more prominent in the next figure, which will be the focus of the next post.