Rafał T. Prinke - Hermetic Heraldry, Okultyzm i Alchemia [Occultism & Alchemy]
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Rafal T. Prinke - Hermetic Heraldry
Article originally published in
The Hermetic Journal
, 1989, 62-
78.
HERMETIC HERALDRY
Studies devoted to hermetic symbolism seldom touch upon its connections with heraldry though it
seems that they should be obvious even to someone with quite limited knowledge of both systems
of symbolism. The only works on this area of mutual influence between hermetism and heraldry I
could find are in French and include
L'hermetisme dans l'art heraldique
by F. Cadet de Gassicourt
and Du Roure de Paulir (Paris, 1907, reprinted in
Les origines symboliques du blason
by Robert
Viel, Paris, 1972) and
Le langage secret du blason
by Gerard de Sorval (Paris, 1981). Touching
upon the problem are also
De sable et d'or. Symbolique heraldique. L'honreur du nom
by Christian
Jacq and Patrice de la Perriere (Paris, 1976) and
Initiation chevaleresque et initiation royale dans la
spiritualite chretienne
by Gerard de Serval (1985). Even though they are interesting and make a
number of valuable observations, they lack a systematic approach to the subject and their
conclusions are rather overenthusiastic and tend to be more esoteric than scholarly.
In my opinion the problem should be divided into two separate areas of research, namely:
1. HERMETIC HERALDRY which includes (a) the influence of early hermetic ideas on the
developement of the heraldic system of coat-of-arms symbolism and (b) the conscious use of
hermetic symbols and emblems in later heraldic designs in order to show the owner's interests or
make the arms "speak".
2. HERALDIC HERMETISM which includes the use of highly structured symbolic language of
heraldry in hermetic iconography.
It may sometimes be difficult to differentiate between the two, of course, as they were often used
simultaneously but the division may still be useful for methodological purposes.
European heraldry, as we know it, is the creation of the chivalric society of the early 12th century
and therefore it is obvious that if any hermetic symbolism can be discerned in it, it must have
preceded heraldry itself and not the other way round. This is not, however, as simple as it may seem
because there is hardly any hermetic iconography from the times preceding heraldic iconography.
All comparisons, therefore, have to be made between much later examples and from the 14th
century onwards there was certainly much lateral influence between heraldic and hermetic art that
makes the whole problem still more complicated.
The authors who have studied the impact of hermetic symbolism on heraldry tend to see its
developement like this:
I would argue, however, that both hermetic and heraldic symbolism developed simultaneously,
taking from the same sources and influencing each other, which may be shown thus:
The influence of bestiaries, the books describing virtues and vices of various animals, including the
mythical ones, is obvious in all later European systems of symbolic expression and thus cannot be
questioned. It is interesting, however, that some animals are almost exclusively heraldic and
hermetic symbols. While such creatures as the dove or the lion are often found in symbolic and
alegorical pictures, the eagle seems to be absent from them but is one of the most important symbol
of both heraldry and hermetism.
Christian symbols are quite common in both systems, so do not need special emphasis. The obvious
examples are the four kerubic creatures (lion, eagle, bull, man), the dove, the lamb, etc.
Traditional symbolism, mentioned above, is meant to include ancient and Arab sources which are of
greatest interest here. First of all the colours and their correspondences must be mentioned, as
crucial to heraldry and also very important in hermetic theory and art. The basic arrangement of
planetary colours is most probably of Babilonian origin and was developed as a part of the system
of astrological correspondences. It was later adapted by the Hellenistic astrologers of Ptolemaic
Egypt and inherited by the Islamic scholars of the 8th-10th centuries. There cannot be any doubt
that the latter new it, as the whole scheme is clearly set out in the treatise on
The Perfect Man
(
Insan-ul-Kamil
) by the Sufi mystic Jili. In theoretical texts on European heraldry, the earliest of
which are quite late, this system also appears, most notably in
Le blason des armoiries
by Hyerome
de Bara (Lyon, 1581).
COLOUR PLANET METAL HERALDIC COLOURS
white or silver Moon silver argent METAL
gray or purple Mercury mercury purpure TINCTURE
green Venus copper vert TINCTURE
yellow Sun gold or METAL
red Mars iron gules TINCTURE
blue Jupiter tin azure TINCTURE
black Saturn lead sable TINCTURE
It is also interesting that a special role ascribed to the correspondences of the Sun and the Moon in
the hermetic symbolism is also present in heraldry:
System Astrology Alchemy Heraldry
Sun/Moon corresp. Sun/Moon gold/silver or/argent
Traditional name luminaries perfect metals metals
Name of others planets base metals tinctures
It is very meaningful, in this context, that the beginnings of heraldry coincided in time with very
close contacts of European knights and scholars with the world of Islam through the crusades and
Arab occupation of Spain. The passing of the "lamp" of esoteric learning from the Arabian
astrologers, alchemists and mystics to their European successors is well documented and cannot be
questioned. It was the main source of occult ideas before the Renaissance translations of
Corpus
Hermeticum
and other hellenistic gnostic texts. And for alchemy, which developed along somewhat
different lines than the occult tradition connected with magic and the Kabbalah, the Renaissance
intellectual revolution had little importance.
The same influence may be seen in the system of geometrical divisions of the heraldic shield called
ordinaries. Mathematics and geometry of the Arabs at the time of crusades was highly developed
and, as some authors say, "degenerated" into esoteric interpretations of the Neopythagorean school.
The mystical significance of geometrical divisions and similar simple forms was studied both by
architects and by Sufi masters. This is, however, a slippery ground for speculations as geometry also
played significant role in Celtic and early Romanesque art symbolism.
Heraldic charges, or pictorial images placed on the shield, of the earliest period are very often the
same as the most important symbols used in alchemy. If we were to choose two leading symbols,
these would certainly be Lion and Eagle. Later many more were incorporated into both systems and
therefore it is difficult to say which are frequent and which are not. The way of their presentation, in
simplified and standardized way, is also very similar. Looking at some alchemical illustrations one
may sometimes feel that they are collections of heraldic designs without shields. Winged beasts
with strange attributes, dragons, double headed eagles, suns, moons, stars, crowns, fleur-de-lis,
crosses, etc. are all present in almost identical shapes.
Turning to particular examples, some of the earliest seem to be the figures from
Buch der Heiligen
Dreifaltigkeit
(circa 1400) and its later version Hieronymus Reusner's
Pandora
(1588), which use
both heraldicized images and actual coats-of-arms. The main motif is the black double-headed eagle
intended to denote the Philosopher's Stone, and some of the more complex heraldic devices
incorporating that symbol represent the whole process of the Magnum Opus. The double headed
eagle divided vertically ("per pale" in heraldic language) and with each half of a different colour is
also present in
De alchimia
(16th c.) attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas as well as in some earlier
alchemical treatises. Another interesting figure is that of Christ crucified upon fleur-de-lis, a
heraldic symbol per se.
Even more meaningful and set in real chivalric context is the beautiful illustration from Aurora
consurgens of the late 14th century. It shows a tournament scene between personifications of the
Sun and the Moon, appropriately presented as a knight and a naked woman which stresses the male-
female duality, riding on heraldic creatures the lion and the griffin. The most interesting feature of it
is, however, that they have shields with the opposite arms, i.e. the Sun-Knight has three crescent
moons and the Moon-Lady has the sun. This is symbolic of the fight of the two opposites, each of
which contains the root of the other, just as in the Chinese yin-yang symbol.
In the case of Lambspring's
Tractatus de lapide philosophorum
(1678) the heraldic element is
especially stressed, showing the alchemical adept on the title page dressed as the Imperial Herald
standing beside the athanor which is also reminiscent of a palace. The symbolic significance of this
emblem is not quite clear - probably it follows the same lines of symbolic association that appear in
numerous representations of the alchemist as a gardener. The herald may be understood as the one
who has power over "metals and tinctures" or heralding the Great Work, which involves some play
on the meanings of the word "herald". The appearance of the double-headed black eagle on his
breast is especially interesting, as the same heraldic device was used in
Buch der Heiligen
Dreifaltigkeit
to denote the Great Work. In some manuscript versions of the work there is also a
coat-of-arms of Lambspring, missing from the Frankfurt edition of Luca Jennis. The arms shows,
approprietly, a lamb passant (i.e. with one leg raised) both on the shield and in the crest over the
helmet. The obvious association in alchemical context is that with the Golden Fleece, so often used
to symbolize the Philosopher's Stone.
A considerable number of alchemical treatises contain what they call Arma Artis, i.e. the arms of the
Art of Alchemy. That in Trismosins's
Splendor Solis
(British Museum MS, 1582) consists of the
Sun face with three smaller faces forming the eyes and mouth on the shield and the triple crescent
Moon surmounted with the Sun in the crest. The symbolism of the former clearly displays the
theory of three alchemical principles - Mercury, Sulphur and Salt - as the constituents of the
Philosopher's Stone, while the crest represents the Conjunctio Oppositorum of the two basic
principles usually symbolized by the Sun/Moon or King/Queen duality.
A later version of the same work,
Le Toyson d'or
(1612), contains on its title page a well known
emblematic figure incorporating three heraldic shields with the double-headed eagle, lion and
seven-pointed star. The same emblem was also included among the engravings of
Viridarium
chymicum
by Daniel Stolcius (1624) as illustrating the text of the
Emerald Table
of Hermes.
Similar theme of triplicity and duality appears in the full heraldic achievement on the first plate in
Spiegel der Kunst und Natur
attributed to Stephan Michelspracher (1654). The quartered shield
displays in the 1st and 4th a pattern very similar to the Chinese Tao symbol and certainly
representing the same idea of interpenetration of the two opposing forces (Yin and Yang, female and
male, etc.). The 2nd and 3rd quarters contain three circles (or spheres), apparently in the field of
golden colour (the engraving is not in colour, of course, but the pattern of dots is used in heraldry to
indicate the metal of gold). The symbol is actually the same as in
Splendor Solis
- the three
elements of which gold is made. The same basic symbolism is indicated by the crest - the duality of
two wings, each of which contains the three elements. The supporters are lion and eagle, familiar
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