Rebis
The Rebis (from the Latin res bina, meaning dual or double matter) is the end product of the alchemical magnum opus or great work.
After one has gone through the stages of putrefaction and purification, separating opposing qualities, those qualities are united once more in what is sometimes described as the divine hermaphrodite, a reconciliation of spirit and matter, a being of both male and female qualities as indicated by the male and female head within a single body. The sun and moon correspond to the male and female halves, just as the Red King and White Queen are similarly associated. The dragon in alchemy represents the prime matter, as well as the third alchemical element sulfur. The winged dragon suggests ascension, a merging of material and spiritual. Fire is a common transformative symbol.
The Rebis image first appeared in the work Azoth of the Philosophers by Basil Valentine in 1613.
Sources
- Robert Allen Bartlett, Real Alchemy: A Primer of Practical Alchemy, Hays (Nicolas) Ltd, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8925-4150-8
- Barbara DiBernard, Alchemy and Finnegans Wake, Suny Press, 1980, p. 71, ISBN 978-0-87395-429-7
- Kathleen P. Long, Hermaphrodites in Renaissance Europe, Ashgate, 2006, p. 131, ISBN 978-0-7546-5609-8
- Alexander Roob, Alchimie et mystique: le musée hermétique, Taschen GmbH, 2006, p. 494, ISBN 978-3-8228-5037-4
- Murray Stein, Transformation: Emergence of the Self, Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 101
- Heinrich Nollius, Theoria philosophiae hermetica, Hanau, 1617
- Heinrich Jamsthaler, Viatorum spagyricum, Frankfurt a. M, Germany, 1625
- Lazarus Zetzner, Theatrum Chemicum, Strasbourg, 1661