The Book of Lambspring – Introduction

_{image credit: The Hermetic Museum, Vol. I: The Book of Lambspring (sacred-texts.com)}

The Book of Lambspring was written by Lampert Spring, a German alchemist.  The oldest copy I have found referenced was published in 1556.  It was translated into Latin by Nicholas Barnaud (published 1599).  (Visit the Lambspring-Images page for links for downloading texts and images.)

Splendor Solis describes spiritual alchemy and physical alchemy.  I originally thought that Lambspring only described spiritual alchemy, but reflection and research on “sweat” (Figure 13) led me to realize that another type of alchemy was also being described.  Greer suggested the terms physiological or microcosmic alchemy as descriptors. While both terms are appropriate, a comment in Hall’s Man:  The Grand Symbol of the Mysteries

^{“It is a mistake to infer that the pineal gland as a physical body
literally possesses all the occult virtues ascribed to it by the sages. 
The gland itself is not the third eye, but only the reflection of that organ–
its counterpart of symbol in the material constitution.”}

and my personal tendency to conflate the map and the terrain make it more appropriate for me to refer to the processes as microcosmic alchemy.

Rather than exploring each section (image and accompanying text) separately and then summarizing groups of related sections, as I did for Splendor Solis, for Lambspring I’ll provide a general overview first, and then explore some aspects of individual sections in more detail.

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The Lunar Path and the Solar Path

Figure 1 (Two Fishes) represents the start of the Lunar/Humid Path.  Figure 2 (Black Beast) is captioned Putrefaction and corresponds to the first flask (Saturn) from Splendor Solis and represents the Nigredo phase.  Figure 3 (Deer and Unicorn) could correspond to Jupiter’s flask.  Figures 4 and 5 do not align as neatly; I would prefer if Figure 5 (Wolf and Dog) came after Figure 6 (Two Lions).  Valentine (in Twelve Keys) assigns the Wolf to Lead and the Dog to Iron, so the Wolf represents Saturn and the Dog represents Mars (and the Wolf and the Dog represent the process of transforming from Saturn to Mars).  Valentine mentions that “the Lion purifies himself with the blood of the wolf” and the caption for Figure 4 (“the Body is mortified and rendered white”) indicates the Albedo phase.  Perhaps the Lions coming before the Wolf is necessary for physical alchemy, but for spiritual alchemy (and for alignment with Splendor Solis), the Lions coming after the Wolf and the Dog seems more appropriate.  (And, interestingly, Figure 2 (Black Beast) in the 1607 version has the Black Beast as a mostly black Wolf with a white underside; the Wolf reappears in Figure 5 (Wolf and Dog), but now he is all white.)

Figures 6 (Ouroboros), 7 (Two Birds in Tree), and 8 (Two Birds Fighting) align with the Venus, Mercury, and Moon flasks.  The captions for Figures 6 and 7 refer to purifying the Mercury (repeated sublimation, the Citrinitas phase), resulting in the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone in Figure 8 (the Rubedo phase).

In Figure 9 (Lord of the Forests), the Initiate has attained the First Degree.  Now, the Initiate embarks on the Solar/Dry Path, starting with Figure 10 (Roasting), the Nigredo phase.  Figure 11 (Father, Son, and Guide) shows the Body, Soul, and Spirit together (holding hands), but the text describes the Son as ascending with the Guide, which relates to a description (of Albedo and Citrinitas) from Splendor Solis: 

_{The Spirit dissolves the body [Figure 11],
and in the Dissolution extracts the Soul of the Body, and
changes this body into Soul [Figure 12],
and the Soul is changed into Spirit, and
the Spirit is added again to the Body [Figure 13], for thus it has stability.}

Figure 14 (Sweating King) is a prelude of the Rubedo phase, which is Figure 15 (One Throne). 

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Symbolism

A Knight stands by an oven (or athanor).  The oven has seven openings, representing the Sephirah. (Malkuth is the largest opening at the bottom.  The next level up is Hod, Yesod, and Netzach.  The next level up from that is Geburah, Tiphareth, and Chesed.)  The top dome represents the Trinity of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah.  The flag (which bifurcates into two) represents a Unity becoming a Duality.

The Knight has a Sword (representing Air); he also has a Wand (representing Fire).  His tunic displays a Phoenix.  The Knight has completed the Solar Path (so he has the Sword and Wand) and the Lunar Path (so he has the Phoenix).

Click here for thoughts on the Preface.