ALCHEMY - MUTUS LIBER, OR SILENT BOOK - PLATE 12. The twelfth plate in the series of fifteen reproduces in almost all symbolic detail the earlier plate 9. We shall recapitulate this symbolism, here, before examining the slight (though highly significant) differences between the plates. Once more we are shown the familiar world of creation, though benignly blasted with spiritual powers, visible only to the initiate. Below the two luminaries are their creatures, the Lamb of the Sun and the Bull of the Moon (Aries is a Fire sign, Taurus an Earth sign). Between them, arranged on the ground are six dishes, collecting the transformed dew. The arrangement is in the form of the Pythagorean figure, or Triangle, which is extended by a level in the register below, where the four heads complete the triangular descending sequence of the Pythagorean figure: . . . . . . . . . . This numerology carries into the tradition of the Cabbala, where we learn that the dew from the cosmic Man, the Adam Kadmon, created the lower worlds. It is significant that the dishes in this plate are no longer dark, or in shadow, suggesting that the four heads they complete on the lower level are also imbued with light. In the lower world of the bottom register, the gods (in the form of Mercury) still mingle with mankind. The imagery here is quite simple: the anima of the alchemist pours the collected dew into the receptacle her by her animus counterpart. She then hands the contents to Mercury. As we have seen, this plate is reproduced, in many symbolic details, by Plate 9: the most important symbolic change is in the numerology of the spiritual power, pouring down in the form of a truncated pyramid, from the skies. *** Local Caption *** In Plate 9, the radiants consist of 8 darker rays, and 16 lighter rays. The total of 24 suggests that the entire radiation is seen as a polarized series of 12 rays - a reference on the one hand to the Cabbala, and on the other hand to astrology, in the influx of the twelve zodiacal signs. This latter association throws some light on the Ram and Bull, below, which are, of course, symbols of Aries and Taurus. In Plate 12, there are only 6 dark radiants, but 20 lighter radiants. The total is now 26 - a numerology which completely evades the cabbalistic or astrological interpretation. The alchemical experiment has gone beyond the limits of the familiar created world, which is projected according to the Law of Twelve. With 13 (that is, half of 26) one is, numerologically speaking, returned to the spiritual. This perhaps explains the divisor line in the bottom register of plate 12: the exchange with Mercury is no longer coterminous with the pouring of the dew. The alchemical masterpiece, Mutus Liber (or Silent Book) first appeared in print during 1677 - probably brought into the light of day by the French alchemist, Jacob Saulat, as a book with 13 plates, which was later increased to one of 15 plates (as in the series available here). The book is almost without words, and such words as appear are rarely what they seem to be, and are certainly susceptible to more than one level of interpretation. The alchemical importance of the images resides in the subtle graphic symbolism. A clear exposition of this symbolism may be found in Adam McLean, A Commentary on the Mutus Liber, 1982.