ALCHEMY - CABBALA Plate 3 from Steffan Michelspacher, Cabala, Spiegel der Kunst und Natur, 1616. The plate symbolizes alchemical conjunction. The curious arched zodiac (the twelve figures of which do not follow the traditional order) is related to the twelve processes of the art, the correspondences being announced (perhaps, rather, hidden) by associate sigils. The interior of the mountain is revealed in the form of a rich palace, on the roof of which a phoenix bird stretches its wings. The rabbit being urged into the hole at the foot of the mountain is a reference to the well-known alchemical acrostic VITRIOL [Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificandoque Invenies Occultum Lapidem] which translates "Visit the Interior of the Earth, and by rectification you will find the hidden stone". The personifications of the seven plants, on the mountain ledges, are linked with the seven steps, or stages, of the alchemical processes, from Calcination to Tincturation, leading to the interior palace. In sequence, from bottom left, the planets are identified as Venus, Mars, Sun, Mercury (dancing on top of the mountain, with caduceus in one hand, a six-pointed star in the other), Moon, Jupiter and Saturn.