Processes Involved
Alchemical processes
An extract and symbol key from Kenelm Digby's A Choice Collection of Rare Secrets, 1682
The alchemical magnum opus was sometimes expressed as a series of chemical operations. In cases where these numbered twelve, each could be assigned one of the Zodiac signs as a form of cryptography. The following example can be found in Pernety's Dictionnaire mytho-hermétique (1758):[8]
- Calcination (Aries [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aries_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♈︎ - Congelation (Taurus [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Taurus_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♉︎ - Fixation (Gemini [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gemini_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♊︎ - Solution (Cancer [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cancer_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♋︎ - Digestion (Leo [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leo_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♌︎ - Distillation (Virgo [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Virgo_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♍︎ - Sublimation (Libra [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Libra_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♎︎ - Separation (Scorpio [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scorpius_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♏︎ - Ceration (Sagittarius [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sagittarius_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♐︎ - Fermentation (Capricorn [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capricornus_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♑︎ (Putrefaction) - Multiplication (Aquarius [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aquarius_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♒︎ - Projection (Pisces [
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pisces_symbol_%28fixed_width%29.svg)) ♓︎
downloaded: December 27, 2023, 10:05 PM